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Migration
Update: April 20, 2007 |
Please
Report
Your Sightings! >> |
Today's
Report Includes:
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Why
Don't We Have a Billion Butterflies?
>> |
The Migration: Maps, Questions and Highlights |
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Distribution
Map >> |
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Real-time
Map >> |
Map
Questions >>
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-
Map:
Animated Map (Week-by-week
slideshow) >>
-
Map: Printer Friendly Version >>
- Sightings:
Recent Sightings (for Classroom Mapping) >>
- Sightings:
All Sightings >>
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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? >>
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Add
Virginia and Missouri to your Prediction
Chart , and predict which states or provinces will have
monarchs next.
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Compare
this spring's progress to 2005
and 2006.
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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
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Ms
Monarch's Egg Laying Calendar
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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
>> |
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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) >>
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The
Next Monarch Migration Update Will Be Posted on April 27, 2007.
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