"Richard
has described what may be the largest concentration of monarchs
seen in Kansas in at least a decade," wrote Dr. Chip Taylor
of Monarch Watch. "At the peak, the number of monarchs
probably exceeded 100,000 and could well have been 200,000 or
more as only part of the surrounding treed areas were surveyed.
This report represents the largest concentration of monarchs
observed this year. The numbers of monarchs may rival those
reported from SE Arkansas of over 100,000 last October."
Why
So Rare?
Dr. Taylor explained: "The monarchs had been attracted
to a sunflower field that was in full bloom. At peak foraging
time many of the sunflower heads were being visited by two to
4 monarchs. The 450 acre field had been planted late in the
season, after the first crop was flooded out in early July.
It is rare to have commercial sunflowers blooming this late
in the season so the expectation of seeing such an aggregation
at this time of year again is low."
Challenges
of Estimating Monarch Numbers
"The monarch numbers game is difficult," added Dr.
Taylor. "Many past estimates have proven to be too low.
Consider the following: 450 acres = 2,178,000 square yards.
There is about 1 flower per square yard but let's say that there
is only 1 per two square yards. With 1 butterfly and flower
per every 2 square yds, the population would be over 1 million.
If one per every 4 square yards, over 500K and if only one per
10 square yds, over 200K. I'm inclined to go along with 200K
but it could have been more."
