Eggs in Missouri and Kansas, first adults in Illinois and Virginia
Monarchs have made their way north, crossing state borders into Kansas, Missouri, Illinois and Virginia for the first time this season.
At the time of our last update, northward movement had been held up at the Oklahoma border, but we now have monarchs – and eggs – in the Show-Me State and Jayhawk State.
Roxanne in Springfield, Missouri, reported 14 eggs on April 12, just two days after also reporting the state’s first adult monarch sighting.
Since then, we’ve also received our first photographed report from Illinois. In Columbia, just south of St. Louis, Keith wrote on April 14, “Milkweeds just emerging. This monarch was on a milkweed that was just popping out of the ground. Coincidence?”
Monarchs tend to arrive as the milkweed pops up. Despite fairly cold temperatures, milkweed has been spotted as far north as the Milwaukee area, with Jon in West Allis, Wisconsin, reporting tiny sprouts on April 12.
Lorelei reported the first emergence of Swamp Milkweed in Battle Creek, Michigan, on April 3, so hopefully it will have some time to grow a bit before monarchs arrive and begin laying eggs.
Around the Midwest, we also have reports of milkweed popping through from across Iowa, eastern Nebraska and the Kansas City area.
We have just two reports of monarch adults from Kansas so far, with C in Wichita reporting one of them on April 12:
“One monarch flew around the yard for at least 45 min but never seemed to settle. At one point a monarch was accompanied by another butterfly although I couldn’t get a good angle on the second butterfly to tell what kind it was. I don’t know if there were two separate monarchs or one I saw several times. Lots of things in bloom but nothing it seemed to want, and the honey vine milkweed isn’t up yet.”
While the first monarchs are arriving in states like Missouri and Illinois, it’s unlikely that most monarch watchers will see their first monarchs in mid-April. There’s a lot of milkweed yet to pop up and a lot of adult monarchs yet to arrive.
Filling in the map a little bit further south, we’ve received numerous reports from Oklahoma and Arkansas as more monarchs have filled the area.
“She was fluttering around and laying eggs all over the yard,” wrote Lori in Fort Smith, Arkansas, on April 14.
Moving up the coast
Looking at the East Coast, our northernmost report came from Petersburg, Virginia, just south of Richmond. Karen reported one that “laid plenty of eggs on my common milkweed” on April 14. One day later, Ellen in Chesapeake reported one as well, a little closer to the coast.
They were right on time for Ann in Wake Forest, North Carolina. “I usually see them in my yard around April 15. This one was about 1 mile from my yard,” Ann wrote on April 13.
Walkertown, North Carolina, is the site of the northernmost egg report in a coastal state, although it’s miles inland, near Greensboro.
Lisa in Walkertown reported 25 eggs on milkweed that was “barely one inch tall” on April 6.
We’re looking forward to hearing from monarch watchers across the continent on the next step of their migratory journey. Wherever you are, let us know what you’re seeing as it happens this spring!
50th anniversary of overwintering discovery
This year is the 50th anniversary of the discovery of monarch overwintering sites in Mexico. Estela Romero has made a video about the discovery and the 50 years that have followed.
