Date: 04/05/2011

Number: 1

In a tallgrass prairie haymeadow, I watched a tattered female monarch fly close to the ground for 5 minutes, apparently seeking milkweeds to lay eggs on. She occasionally landed on 2" tall forbs, but I did not observe oviposition. I could find no milkweeds for her to lay on, though I spent 15 minutes searching a 1/2 acre parcel that had hundreds of Asclepias viridis stems last May. The top 2" of soil in the haymeadow is dry as dust. Has the drought slowed down the emergence of Asclepias viridis?

A few minutes later, I captured the female monarch and took her home in hopes that she would lay eggs on a mature plant of Asclepias curassavica that was placed in a butterfly enclosure.

Stillwater, OK

Latitude: 36.2 Longitude: -97.1

Observed by: Ray
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