Date: 01/01/2003

Number: 1

All the monarchs I observe here apppear to be be overwintering, and their offspring. I have observed pupae throughout the entire winter season, although very few in Dec & Jan. There appears to be no diapause here. I have a. curassavica growing and blooming, nectar plants (pentas, lantanas, golden dewdrops in bloom, and monarchs and gulf fritillaries (sp?) nectaring throughout the winter. (Which was mild, by the way). I currently have pupae all over the place - under windowsills, sides of recessed windows, hot-water emergency overflow pipe, eaves,on other plants; parasitization rate is probably 10%, which I don't like, but whatcha gonna do? In addition to a. curassavica, I have a giant milkweed (the one with purple flowers!)loaded with cats; our recent cold spell stripped all the leaves, but it sprouted new leaves at _every_ node on _every_ stem, and it has cats galore on the new growth. The plant is probably 8 ft tall by 10-12 ft across.

What more canI say?

Any questions or

St Petersburg, FL

Latitude: 27.8 Longitude: -82.7

Observed by: Charles
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