Date: 02/22/2008

Number: 1

We have had a very mild winter so far this season, and the wintering monarchs along the immediate coast have been pretty active. I have made many unrecorded monarch observations this winter (one or two butterflies on at least 8-10 additional days on which I did no tagging) – primarily at Ft. Johnson.

I think most of the monarchs that are seen along the SC coast after mid-November likely winter (or attempt to winter) here. I have tagged 54 monarchs since mid-Nov, but 10 were from larvae that I rescued from my garden just prior to freezing nights in late Dec and early Jan. I was a bit surprised that I recovered a tagged monarch (#JNN420) that I reared from a wild larva and released on 21 Jan. I recovered the butterfly 16 days after its release. I have released several dozen reared monarchs in mid-winter over the past several seasons, but I have not previously recovered any such butterflies. I assumed that such monarchs were not well-suited for winter survival since they did not have sufficient opportunity for nectaring and deposition of fat reserves. Perhaps this winter has been mild enough that winter-emerging monarchs have been active enough to find sufficient nectar to fuel their winter stay. One of the monarchs that I tagged at Folly Beach on 17 Feb (#JNN434) was in excellent condition, indicating that it may have emerged from its chrysalis within the preceding 6 weeks or less. Most of the winter monarchs that I observe and/or tag are washed-out and at least slightly tattered.

Fort Johnson, SC

Latitude: 32.7 Longitude: -79.9

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