Date: 07/27/2015

Number: 20

Update on Wisconsin conditions for late July, 2015:

Still wet and green here in Wisconsin......temps in the 80s most days, and a rain this morning after a few days of dry but humid.
Lots of monarch activity to report. Saw many monarchs flying yesterday, both male and female. Two mating pairs at the Big Lake Farm area. Caterpillars have been tough to fine, but I did spot a few 1-3 instars on our back hill.
There are millions of ants out there. They could be eating eggs, but I cannot prove this by observation. Occasionally I find a dead, dried body of some kind on the milkweed leaves, but nothing I can positively identify as a monarch caterpillar. I wish I was better able to report better.
Wasps and spiders are increasing.....mostly I let them alone, but I suspect they get a lot of monarchs.
I am interested in male monarch strategies for finding females. Much of the time they fly quickly and cover a lot of ground, but sometimes a male displays a wait and watch technique. Last night I watched a male checking and rechecking tree roost sights and wondered if the behavior I see when they are migrating in the fall and looking for flutterings is related to his behavior last night. If monarchs have an instinct for reacting to a nearby flying monarch, perhaps that could be an effective technique for finding a female to mate with.
Any suggestions for further reading in this area would be appreciated.
Good luck.......I am hoping for huge numbers a month from now. We shall see how it all plays out.

Osceola, WI

Latitude: 45.3 Longitude: -92.7

Observed by: Pat
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