Date: 10/15/2006

Number: 1

Even though the weather is quite cool, I am still seeing Monarchs. The night time temperatures have been in the 30's and it's been in the 50's during the day. The attached photo is, I assume, a pair mating. The butterflies that are here now, don't seem to be in a hurry to go south. Will they stay here, mate and die? Or do you think they will still head south? If they go south, will they lay their eggs here?

I have seen milkweed. I have only seen one plant, but I am sure if there is one, there are more. I was not only surprised to see the butterflies mating, but I couldn't believe one could have the strength to fly carrying the other. Before I took this photo, it or they were flying.

Editor's Notes: You have made and documented a fascinating observation! The monarchs certainly do appear to be mating and this goes against conventional wisdom for your latitude. In the north (above ~35 North), it's thought that monarchs go into "diapause" (meaning they do not fully mature or mate) in August or early September. It is assumed that those monarchs then migrate.

However, over the past few years, observations like yours have been showing that the situation is more complicated. Your observation is similar to what is seen at southern latitudes (~ 35 degrees North and southward). There, monarchs reappear after being absent during the summer and begin to breed. Mating and migrating turn on/off depending on environmental factors (temperature, day length and presence of milkweed), but to my knowledge this has not been documented at your latitude (or in October!)

* Can you write back and tell me if you still have milkweed there?

I"m not a scientist myself so I may not have worded this exactly. However, I'll forward your observations to some scientists and see what they say.

Also see full sized image.

Montauk, NY

Latitude: 41 Longitude: -71.9

Observed by: Elaine
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