Monarch Butterflies
Migration Update: April 20, 2007
Please Report
Your Sightings! >>

Today's Report Includes:

Why Don't We Have a Billion Butterflies? >>
The Migration: Maps, Questions and Highlights

Distribution Map >>

Real-time Map >>

Map Questions >>

  • Map: Animated Map (Week-by-week slideshow) >>
  • Map: Printer Friendly Version >>
  • Sightings: Recent Sightings (for Classroom Mapping) >>
  • Sightings: All Sightings >>

 

Highlights: A Slow Week, and Curious Georgia and Carolina Sightings
There was little northward movement again this week, but sightings in the southeastern states are intriguing. Monarchs appeared in good numbers in Georgia and the Carolinas, and included our first report of a fresh-winged butterfly.

Fresh wings mean a new butterfly, probably a child of the overwintering generation. We know that new monarchs should appear across Texas any day, according to Carol Cullar's observations in Eagle Pass. Where would a fresh-winged monarch in North Carolina have come from? We've been wondering about the monarchs there all spring: Are those butterflies coming up from Mexico, from the population that wintered on the Atlantic or Gulf coasts — or both? What do you think? >>

  • Add Virginia and Missouri to your Prediction Chart , and predict which states or provinces will have monarchs next.
  • Compare this spring's progress to 2005 and 2006.

 
The Life Cycle Continues: Waiting for the Next Generation

Ms. Monarch went butterfly heaven this week, we are sorry to report, but she left an amazing 326 eggs behind. Dr. Edson is now waiting for her children to be born and continue the journey north. Notice the dates that Dr. Edson's captive monarchs stopped laying eggs each spring. The monarchs from Mexico are clearly laying their last eggs and living their last days by mid-April!

Date of Final Egg

  • April 13, 2007
  • April 12, 2006
  • April 11, 2005
  • April 14, 2002

Ms Monarch's Egg Laying Calendar

Slideshow: Why Don't We Have a Billion Butterflies?

A single monarch butterfly can lay hundreds of eggs. For example, in Dr. Edson's lab one monarch laid 2007 laid 326 eggs in 2007 and another laid 758 eggs in 2006!

What would happen if every egg survived? Let's see how many monarch generations it would take to reach a billion butterflies.

Slideshow >>

Journal: Thoughts About Monarchs on Earth Day

Earth Day occurs every year just as a new monarch generation is replacing the old. We depend on the earth to renew the cycle and deliver the next generation.

  • Where is good habitat most important to monarchs at this time of year? Describe where and explain why.

This Earth Day celebrate by creating habitat for monarchs in your town or backyard. >>

A faded old monarch and a fresh one that has just been born.

Photo: Harlen Aschen

Links: Monarch Butterfly Resources to Explore
  • Background: What is a Generation? >>
  • Habitat Projects: Unpave the Way for Wildlife! >>
  • Predicting: Predicting the Route of the Spring Migration >>
  • Mapping—Key Lessons & Resources: Making, Reading and Interpreting Maps >>
  • Monarchs for Kids (booklets, photos, videos) >>
More Monarch Lessons and Teaching Ideas!

The Next Monarch Migration Update Will Be Posted on April 27, 2007.

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