Quebec joins the club, caterpillar reports filling in
Reports of monarch larvae are inching northward.
Our northernmost report of a caterpillar comes from Thunder Bay, Ontario, on June 18 at latitude 48.4, and we’ve received our first reports of larvae from South Dakota and North Dakota over the past two weeks as well.
In Zell, South Dakota, Jean reported a caterpillar on June 17 and Jeff in Fargo, North Dakota, reported one small larva on June 9.
In Peshtigo, Wisconsin, near the border of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, I was excited to find my first caterpillars of the year, finding them in three different patches of milkweed on June 13, along with plenty of eggs. A week later, I spotted a couple more larvae.
Just to the south of Peshtigo, Jacqueline in Green Bay had me outdone, having spotted 12 total cats on June 7.
To the Northeast
Nova Scotia, Maine, and Vermont have their first larvae reports as well, with Kathleen in York, Maine, reporting one egg hatched on June 11 and Sherry in Windsor Junction, Nova Scotia, reporting six caterpillars on June 12, along with a neat photo of a caterpillar just outside its eggshell.
That eggshell probably didn’t last long, as a monarch starts its life off by eating its shell before moving on to fine hairs on the bottom of a milkweed leaf.
Brattleboro, Vermont, is the location of the Green Mountain State’s first larva sighting, with Erin reporting one “about an inch long.”
Marie in Topsham, Maine, reported one larva on June 16 as well.
Quebec joins the club
The first monarch adults of the year have made their way to Quebec, with two separate reports coming in on June 15.
Isabelle reported one in Champlain and Ann reported one in Sainte-Julie, just outside Montreal, on the same day, writing that a female was visiting a flower box: “Hopefully this is the first of many, many more to come!”
Here’s hoping, Ann!
Elsewhere in the eastern half of Canada, monarchs’ move north has continued, even if we don’t always see adults on the move.
“I haven’t seen any adult [monarchs] yet so I was surprised to see the larvae,” Wendy in Minden Hills, Ontario, said on June 9 while reporting two caterpillars. “Wonderful to see!”
In Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Ronald reported an adult on June 8, adding that last year’s first monarch was spotted on June 5, and the earliest ever sighting was in 2021, when a monarch adult was seen May 29.
Keep your sightings coming!
North American Monarch Summit coming up
If you live around the Twin Cities, stop by the Great Monarch Meetup in Minneapolis on Monday, where representatives from numerous organizations from around the continent will be present.
If you’re a monarch butterfly enthusiast or just interested in nature, it’s an opportunity to connect with others and learn a thing or two, and admission is free. This public event comes the day before the start of the 2025 North American Monarch Summit, put on by the Monarch Joint Venture.
