Monarch Butterfly Update: May 10, 2012 |
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"Very early!" "Way early!" "Ridiculously early!" This week's most commonly used word was early as weather conditions continued to deliver an early migration. Celebrate the monarch's arrival with free verse poetry. Look closely at caterpillar stripes in this week's slideshow.
This Week's Update Includes:
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Image of the Week | ||||||||||||||||
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News: Record-breaking Butterflies | |||||||||||||||||
Surge in Sightings The migration continued to surge northward during the past week. A warm front set the butterflies sailing on the first of May. Since that day, more than 200 people have reported their first monarch. That's 30% of this spring's total sightings. This graph shows how the sightings surged when the warm front hit. The temperature map depicts conditions on peak migration day, May 3rd. Warm air reached all the way to southern Canada. Wave of Arrival Early Spring Especially Early in the Northeast
Student Showcase: Free Verse Poetry |
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Slideshow: Look at Those Stripes! | |||||||||||||||||
What differences do you see when you compare the stripes of two monarch caterpillars? The stripes reveal a surprising survival strategy for regulating temperature:
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The Migration: Maps and Journal Page | |||||||||||||||||
Let's find out when and where monarchs and milkweed appear this spring.
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The next monarch migration update will be posted on February 23, 2012. | |||||||||||||||||