Monarch Butterfly Migration Update: June 6, 2002 Today's Report Includes: News From the Migration Trail Stay Tuned: The Monarch Migration Continues! Please Help: YOUR Monarch Sightings Are Important Year-End Evaluation: Please Share Your Thoughts! News From the Migration Trail This Year Last Year Milkweed Link to Data: Link to This Week's Migration Data We have another 59 sightings to report this week! Monarchs have clearly advanced into the Great Lakes region, surrounding Lake Michigan and even reaching the tip of Lake Superior's Isle Royale (48N). The northernmost report of the spring came this week from Winnipeg, Manitoba (49N). As noted last week, the monarch population remains concentrated in midsection of the continent. Notice the abundance of monarchs reported in a corridor between 83W and 100W. Their concentrations have moved in a diagonal slightly eastward, from 95W-100W when in Texas, to present concentrations at 83W-95W. (Click on map to enlarge.) Sightings picked up slightly in the east during the last week, with 10 of this week's 59 sightings (17%) reported from areas in Pennsylvania and eastward. Most of our observers are concentrated in the east, as this jumbo-sized map shows, so the low number of reports reinforces the impression that the monarch population is truly low there. When comparing migration maps of 2001 and 2002 above, notice how clearly the cool temperatures this spring affected the migration's advance into northern regions. Monarchs moved into the region during the May 10-May 23 time interval last year (shown as red dots on last spring's map) and the May 24-June 6 interval this year (shown as pink dots on this spring's map). Stay Tuned: The Monarch Migration Continues! Other Journey North migrations have come to an end, but we'll continue to track the monarchs until they?ve expanded across their entire breeding range. This normally takes until mid-June, but may take more time this year because the population is so low. Please Help: YOUR Monarch Sightings Are Important This is an ESPECIALLY important year to be watching for monarchs. Even after monarchs have been reported from your state or province, we want to hear from YOU when you see YOUR first! And, if you don?t see your first monarch until later in the summer, please report it then. The number of sightings reported reflects monarch abundance, so your observations will continue to be important. Journey North Year End Evaluation Please share your thoughts The Next Monarch Migration Update Will Be Posted on June 13, 2002 Copyright 2002 Journey North. All Rights Reserved. Please send all questions, comments, and suggestions to our feedback form