Date: 09/05/2006

Number: 1

My biologist friend, Bill Healy, has about 800 acres and he let the stands of milkweed grow instead of mowing this year. Consequently, he has had many, many monarch butterflies there this year. He says there is "quite a heavy population" compared to last year when they were hard to find. Now he says the caterpillars are everywhere you look on the milkweed. But he also added that there is some kind of virus killing some of the larvae when they first hatch. He could not remember the name of the virus, but it sounded like he was familiar with it.

Smithville, WV

Latitude: 39.1 Longitude: -81.1

Observed by: Margaret
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