Date: 08/14/2009

Number: 1

On Friday night I discovered a small female monarch hanging near my porch light, apparently having recently emerged from the chrysalis. It was in mint condition and still stretching its wings, and willing crawled onto my finger, hence my conclusion that it hadn’t flown from elsewhere. The egg that produced that adult would have been laid nearby sometime in early to mid-July. I have milkweed, but have seen no activity—not sure where the nearest other patch might be. It seems very early for such activity this far south, as our peak migration isn’t til September and we rarely see any monarchs before Aug. 10 in Northern Virginia. Is this unusual?

Courtesy of Monarch Watch

Alexandria, VA

Latitude: 38.8 Longitude: -77.1

Observed by:
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