The first monarch butterfly of the spring of '94 was sighted yesterday in Austin, Texas! This is an unusually early arrival. The sighting was made by Dr. Bill Calvert, one of the world's most knowledgeable monarch experts.
He has 2 possible explanations for its early arrival: 1) This individual may not have gone to the Mexican colonies but survived the winter elsewhere, or 2) In past years people just haven't happened to see the few individuals who arrive early.
News from the monarch colonies in Mexico:
The butterflies have become quite active and are mating now. They will depart en masse any time. Dr. Calvert visited the colonies recently and said it was almost difficult to breathe when they flew about his face in a butterly blizzard. He said the butterflies looked good and that mortality seemed to be low this year. He estimates that there are between 50 and 100 million monarchs in the Mexican colonies each year. We'll have a live report from Alfonso Alonzo as soon as the monarchs officially leave their Mexican colonies .
The West Coast monarch population left their wintering colonies on March 10th. Students in northern California, Washington, Oregon and British Colombia--be on the lookout!
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