Date: 08/19/2010

Number: 1

Good news from Downeast Maine

An intensely monitored flower field/ garden near Bar Harbor Maine has only three milkweed plants (Asclepias incarnata). Monarch adults have been present in the garden most of the summer - at the end of July and especially in August, when as many as 15 adults could be seen at once. Two weeks ago one of these plants had 30 larvae in all stages of development devouring it. Larvae were even consuming the seed pods decorating the entire plant like yellow and black ornaments. One week ago very fresh looking monarchs were nectaring and mating in the garden. This week a new batch of eggs is apparent on all three milkweeds plants.
In another area maybe two miles away a larger, roadside milkweed patch (A. syriaca) was searched for eggs and larvae. In a five minute period we found six eggs, but no larvae. There were no nectar sources near this roadside milkweed patch. It seems likely that the presence of so many monarchs in the garden had much to do with the abundance of nectar.
Others have reported a surge of monarch activity this season � mainly adults. These reports are from Sullivan, Maine, north of Bar Harbor and Vassalboro, Maine, located near Waterville. All agree that compared to last year, this is a remarkable year for monarchs in Downeast Maine.

Bill Calvert
Bonnie Chase
Beyond Your Backyard Adventures

Bar Harbor, ME

Latitude: 44.4 Longitude: -68.2

Observed by: William
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