Monarch Butterfly Migration Update: May 9, 2003

Today's Report Includes:

• News From the Migration Trail
• First Spring Generation: A Prediction Map
• The Life Cycle Continues: A Butterfly is Born
• Challenge Question #26
• A Chick Hatches and a Monarch Ecloses: What's the Difference?
• Challenge Question #27
• Larvae Like Mice, Butterflies Like Hummingbirds? Discussion of Challenge Question #24
• Last Week’s Mystery Monarch Habitat: Discussion of Challenge Question #25
• Milkweed Emerging Along the Migration Trail
• Year-End Evaluation: Please Share Your Thoughts!

Monarchs arrived in five new states during the last week!

• Link to This Week's Data

In order of appearance they were Delaware, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Nebraska and New Jersey.

• Monarch Spring Migration Route Prediction Chart

Nebraska students from York Middle School reported the first monarchs from their state, and Byram Intermediate School students in New Jersey reported the first from theirs:

York, NE
"Four students reported today that they had seen adult monarchs over the weekend. They all said that the wings were brightly colored, not dull or faded. We will watch for our first egg laying!"

Stanhope, NJ
“My mother, 2 baseball team members and I saw a Monarch butterfly in my backyard. It was a dull orange with a damaged wing with broken off pieces to the top wing. It was crawling on the grass when I found it and then crawled right onto my finger. It just walked up my arm. It tried to fly away but could not fly well.”

Migration sightings are now at their seasonal low, with just 9 new sightings reported during the past week. However, if past years' patterns are an accurate predictor, the number of sightings will jump next week. They typically double between the 1st and 2nd weeks of May.

Monarchs should flood northward into the northern tier states during the next two weeks. When do you predict the first will cross into Canada?

Get ready to see some fresh, new monarchs! This map shows when and where we can expect the new generation of monarchs to appear.

To make this map, we simply modified the migration map by assuming that:

• Eggs were laid at all the places monarchs were sighted, and
• It takes 32 days for a monarch to develop from an egg into an adult.

Monarch Eclosing
Photo Gallery Still images of monarch eclosing

How does the monarch do this? What questions do you have as you watch? Send us yours! We’ll make a list of everybody’s questions and find an expert to answer.

Challenge Question #26
“What questions do you have as you watch the monarch emerge from the chrysalis?”

(To respond to this question, please follow the instructions below.)

Monarch Eclosing	Chick Hatching

The process of emerging from a chrysalis is called “eclosing,” just as “hatching” is the process of emerging from an egg. Read the description of a whooping crane hatching from its egg and watch the video clip. Next, describe the similarities and differences between a bird hatching and a butterfly eclosing.

• An Inside Story: Visualizing Inside the Egg
  

  Challenge Question #27
  “What similarities and differences did you find between a chick hatching and a butterfly eclosing?”

(To respond to this question, please follow the instructions below.)

Larvae Like Mice, Butterflies Like Hummingbirds?
Discussion of Challenge Question #24
In describing the great change of metamorphosis Dr. Brower said a larva and adult monarch are as different as a mouse and a hummingbird.

We asked how mice are like caterpillars and hummingbirds like butterflies.

Grade 5 students at Pymatuning Valley Middle School in Ohio replied, “We believe a field mouse is like a monarch caterpillar because they both eat plants and they both can't fly. A hummingbird is like an adult monarch because they both can fly and they both eat nectar.”

Mrs. Nunnally's New Hampshire second graders noted these additional hummingbird/butterfly similarities: “Both have something long and slender to use to get nectar: a beak and a proboscis” and “they also carry pollen from flower to flower.” “They both migrate in the winter,” added Mrs. Swentzel's class from New Jersey.

“We looked at the pictures and read the description and decided that maybe it was in Texas," said Mrs. Swentzel's New Jersey class tentatively. "One of the class had lived there for a short time and they described it as looking just like the pictures. They said the country was very hot during the summer time, but if a blue northern came through the temperature could really drop.”

Right on! These shots are on the Rio Grande in Maverick County in Southwest Texas. Thanks to Carol Cullar for sending them.

IMPORTANT: Answer only ONE question in each e-mail message.

1. Address an e-mail message to: jn-challenge-monarch@learner.org
2. In the Subject Line of your message write: Challenge Question # 26 (or #27)
3. In the body of EACH message, give your answer to ONE of the questions above.

The Next Monarch Butterfly Migration Update Will Be Posted on May 16, 2003

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