Date: 04/01/2017

Number: 1

Appeared to be a female feeding on Henbit

I appreciate and understand your skepticism about my sighting, especially if it is the first report of a Monarch in Missouri this spring. I have never observed a Monarch Butterfly in the spring, much less this early. And unfortunately I do not have a photo - I didn’t want to lose sight of the butterfly.

What I can do is describe my observations, and how I reached my conclusion.

Midday on April 1, 2017 a large, orange colored butterfly glided past me with it’s wings held in a ‘V’ shape, and my first thought was “that looked like a Monarch”. I followed the butterfly to a large area of Henbit in bloom, and it fed on the plants for several minutes. Most of the time the butterfly kept its wings closed. The hindwing was lighter in color, along with the top portion of the forewing, and both wings had black outer margins with white spots. The butterfly had a black body with prominent white spots. I observed the mitten shape on the hindwing (definitely not a Comma, Red Admiral, Painted Lady or Snout) There was no post median band (not a Viceroy). The only other butterfly with similar characteristics is a Queen, but I don’t believe they are found in this area.

My happiness at seeing what appeared to be a Monarch was tempered by the fact that it is too early for milkweed plants to be growing in our area.

I have been observing butterflies for several years and helped create a Monarch Waystation in a local conservation area and at a school where I volunteer. I also volunteer with the recently established Missouri Butterfly Monitoring Network. So I would say my level of butterfly identification experience is more than novice, but definitely not expert.

Note from Tad Yankoski:
I am the entomologist at the Sophia M Sachs Butterfly House and director of the Missouri Butterfly Monitoring Network. Wow, that is VERY early for a Monarch but for what it is worth I trained Sherri myself and have never found her identifications to be inaccurate, especially for the more common species. Sherri, if you see any others please let me know, it will be an interesting thing to keep an eye on. Where were you when you saw it? I wouldn't rule out the possibility of it originating from captivity via a wedding or class release instead of being born in the wild.

St. Louis, MO

Latitude: 38.5 Longitude: -90.4

Observed by: Sherri
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