Date: 07/07/2011

Number: 1

Today was probably the end of the best July hatch I have seen. Beginning on Saturday-- July 2, and continuing through Wednesday, July 6-- about a dozen Monarchs per day hatched in a small milkweed patch I call the blackberry patch. It measures about 25'x25'. For the last couple of years I have mowed it in the fall, leaving a ten foot strip of blackberries on the eastern edge. Its milkweeds mature earlier than those in the pasture, both mine and the neighbors. I suspect it is a different species.
The last few days have been a tangle of butterfly activity, with emergings and maturations of all sorts. New butterflies were mating even as others were just getting their wings. I saw two matings today.
Of the dozens of new Monarchs I observed, only one had deformed wings. Overall, size was very good.......colors and health good.
I saw only two or three that probably emerged today.
I can only hope other areas had similar successes. I estimate 25% or better success on eggs to adults. Unbelievable.

Osceola, WI

Latitude: 45.3 Longitude: -92.7

Observed by: Pat
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