Here's the latest news about migrating monarchs. Remember, we will continue to collect monarch sightings even after school is out. Please don't hesitate to send them! If you do not have access to the Internet you're welcome to send your reports over the summer by:
FAX: (612)339-7056
Phone: (612)339-6959
Mail: Journey North, 125 North First Street, Minneapolis, MN 55401
Date Location
05/16/96 Taney County, MO
05/17/96 Weston, MO
05/18/96 Calloway County, MO
05/18/96 Liberty, MO
05/18/96 Madison, WI
05/21/96 Livingston, WI
05/21/96 Lenoir, NC
05/21/96 Mississauga, Ontario
05/21/96 Long Point Provincial Park, Ontario
05/22/96 Kleinfeltersville, PA (near Ephrata)
05/22/96 Minneapolis, MN
05/24/96 Arthur, Ontario (Wellington County)
05/25/96 Troy, MO
From MISSOURI:
May 16
On or about 16 May 1996 my wife (Katharine E.S. Donahue) and I
observed, and commented on, (1) a very worn and faded Monarch that
we examined closely enough to determine that it had not been tagged,
suspecting that it was possibly an individual that had come all the
way from Mexico, and (2) a fresh-appearing Monarch. The location
was Taney County, Missouri, U.S.A.; this is known as the Missouri
Ozarks. The habitat was an oak-hickory-juniper forest with open
"glades" and/or suburban residential and farmland.
Sorry that I did not take more precise notes, or determine the sex, but I was not anticipating your request for information! Should have known better.
By the way, Asclepias quadrifolia was in flower in the Hercules Glades Wilderness of Mark Twain National Forest; one of my favorite milkweeds, because of its distinctive form and forest habitat. No obvious larval feeding damage observed (in fact, it may not even be a significant host of D. plexippus).
Julian P. Donahue
Emeritus Curator of Lepidoptera
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
Los Angeles, CA
Bugbooks@aol.com
Click here to visit the Museum's
home page
From MISSOURI:
May 17
Monarch sightings have been very thin so far this spring. My first
sighting was on May 17th while leading a bird hike at Weston Bend
State Park near Weston, Missouri. This about 30 minutes north of us
but is on the Missouri River.
On Saturday (18th), my naturalist saw one here at the Sanctuary. The milkweed is starting to get some good size on it now but our Tallgrass Prairie is in terrible shape because of instillation of a dissabled accessible trail through it.
Mark McKellar
Martha Lafite Thompson Nature Sanctuary
Liberty, MO
mltns@magic1.org
From MISSOURI:
May 18 & 25
Bruce Schuete of Cuivre River State Park near Troy, Missouri
reported the first monarch of the season over Memorial Day weekend.
During a butterfly census two monarchs were sighted. In addition,
one of the observers is from nearby Calloway County and reported
their first sighting a week earlier, on roughly May 18th.
From WISCONSIN:
May 18
A flying (northbound, at about eye-level) Monarch was seen in Madison,
Wisconsin USA at 11 a.m. on May 18 1996. Temperature was around 80 degrees
F, wind from the south at about 15 mph.
Dave Fallow
Madison, WI
caclark1@students.wisc.edu
From WISCONSIN:
May 21
On Tuesday 21,1996 Melany and Sandy saw a monarch.
Stephanie Dirks, Iowa-Grant School District
Livingston, WI
dirks@cybertown.net
From NORTH CAROLINA:
May 21
We've been waiting a long time tospot the monarchs around our school
campus. While we've seen several monarchs at our houses 2 or 3
weeks earlier, we saw our first monarch here at school Tuesday, May
21st. It was flying around the trees near the kindergarten classes
as we were walking back to our class from the playground. We are
located in the foothills of North Carolina, in site of the
mountains. The weather has been unusual this year. We've have
rather cold temperatures the first part of May, then we've gone to
the other extreme. Our temperatures this week have been in the high
80's and 90's.
Mrs. Suddreth's 2nd grade students
Gamewell Elementary
Lenoir, NC
JSGamewell@aol.com
From ONTARIO:
May 21
I saw a single migrating monarch butterfly on May 21 at 3:00 (Daylight
saving time) on the Erindale Campus of the University of Toronto in
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. I spotted the butterfly from a second story
window and was able to watch it for approximately 20 seconds as it flew
north. It stayed within about 1 metre of the ground until lost from sight
behind some trees. Its wings appeared bright and undamaged. The sun was
shining at the time of the observation.
David L. Gibo, Zoology Department
Erindale Campus, University of Toronto
Mississauga, Ontario Canada
dgibo@credit.erin.utoronto.ca
From ONTARIO:
May 21
Sarah and Chauncey Wood saw their first Monarch of the year on
May 21 at Long Point Provincial Park in Ontario. The individual was very
worn. Weather was clear but windy. The spring has been very cold, very
retarded, and quite wet here this year. Butterflies of any sort have
been few and far between. Also seen on May 21 were a Cabbage White and a
Mourning Cloak. It is noteworthy that to date we have not seen a Spring
Azure--a species often encountered as early as early May here.
Chauncey Wood, Department of English
McMaster University
Hamilton, ON
cdwood@mcmaster.ca
From PENNSYLVANIA:
May 22
Hi, I would like to report my 1st monarch sighting in
Kleinfeltersville, PA (near Ephrata) on 5/22. Also found monarch
eggs in Lancaster, PA on 5/22. Since I am usually not lucky enough
to actually see the first monarchs in the area, I keep record of
when I first find eggs. Some data from other years are:
1980 5/28
1981 5/4
1982 5/7
1990 5/22
1991 5/2
1993 6/8
1994 5/11
1995 4/19 (butterfly - milkweed not even growing yet!)
1996 5/22
Gayle Steffy, Lancaster, PA
QAWF52A@prodigy.com
From MINNESOTA
May 22
I saw my first monarch from my office window (the sex could not be
determined) on Wednesday morning May 22, 1996. It was sunny & humid with a
temperature of around 65 degrees. The milkweed 6 inches high, and the
lilacs are not in bloom yet. The monarch was flying north as if it were on
a mission--probably looking for nectar elsewhere because nothing was
blooming in my garden at the time.
Julie Brophy, Journey North
Minneapolis, Minnesota
jb@inet-serv.com
From ONTARIO
May 24
The second migrating monarch butterfly of the season was seen on May 24 at
about 4:00 (Daylight saving time) at a glider field 7 km east of Arthur,
Wellington County, Ontario, Canada. The site is the complex of grass
runways used by York Soaring Association and is identified as Arthur East
on the Canada Toronto VTA - VFR Terminal Area Chart. The altitude of the
runway is shown as 1550 ft. The butterfly was flying NW and was
paralleling a line of trailers that flank the NE side of the main runway.
It stayed within about 1 metre of the ground. The wind was from the NE
and the butterfly was at least partially screened by the trailers. Its
wings appeared undamaged but the orange colour was noticably faded. The
sun was shining and the temperature was about 16 C.
David L. Gibo, Zoology Department
Erindale Campus, University of Toronto
Mississauga, Ontario Canada
dgibo@credit.erin.utoronto.ca
************************************************
Other Notes About Monarchs
From LOUISIANA:
May 27
In New Orleans at our school we have yet to see one caterpillar
in our butterfly garden. The children are very disappointed. We are hoping
to tag monarchs next fall through Monarch Watch. What do you think the
prognosis will be? Our milkweed is doing great! Has anyone done any
type of population count? Keep us posted. Janice Catledge and third
grade class
MAWSE@jazz.ucc.uno.edu
From MARYLAND:
May 24
We have seen several monarchs at school and at home. The best news is
that we released our first Monarch today at 2:30PM. We had received six
caterpillars from Monarch Watch on May 10th. The first one, Bubba, was
in the chrysalis stage on Monday, May 13th. He emerged from the
chrysalis yesterday, and we set him free today. Our second caterpillar
was a chrysalis on May 14th and he emerged this morning. Our teacher
will release him tomorrow. We still have three chrysalis' and one
caterpillar. Now, we're going to get busy on our butterfly garden so
Bubba's offspring will have lots of milkweed next fall.
Thanks Journey North and Monarch Watch for this fun adventure. We didn't know science could be so much fun.
Second Grade E.T. Students
Atholton Elementary School
Columbia, MD
39.18 N, 76.85 W
mlewis@umd5.umd.edu
From ONTARIO:
Not a major concern to myself, but might be to classes studying your reports:
The town noted in my reports is "KINGSVILLE", Ontario. It should be
"BRIGHTON", Ontario. Kingsville is way down near Windsor and Point
Pelee National Park. Also, my correct e-mail address is
129@freenet.toronto.ontario.ca
Don Davis
The Next Monarch Migration Update Will be Posted on June 4, 1996
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