Date: 02/22/2008

Number: 1

I have had monarchs in cages on my front porch all winter since the migration last October. This experiment was done to see if monarchs could survive by overwintering in the Texas Hill Country and to find out if they would come out of reproductive diapause if tropical milkweed were placed in their cages. I found my last wild caterpillars in South San Antonio in December. These have now become adults and have layed eggs on tropical milkweed plants. The metamorphosis has taken much longer this winter than in the spring and summer because of cold temperatures. I sent most of the adults that emerged over the winter months to the University of Minnesota and kept only eight for the experiment. Only two of those survived to lay eggs.

Fair Oaks Ranch, TX

Latitude: 29.7 Longitude: -98.6

Observed by: Mary
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