Date: 04/06/2023

Number: 3

2-3 male adult monarchs in and around my garden on Escalona Dr in Santa Cruz daily since March 24, 2023, patrolling and nectaring on Echium and Pittosporum undulatum blossoms.
Not one female has been spotted since mid March at Lighthouse Field overwintering site 2 miles from my house or anywhere else in Santa Cruz despite my searching for them. The last and only one I did observe at Lighthouse Field on March 15 was mating.
No eggs or larvae have been observed by me in 2023, which is highly unusual, since I have early milkweeds (heartleaf) that had begun to re-emerge in late Jan, and have had many females ovipositing on them and other milkweeds at my property in late Jan in 2022 and previous years. Females started disappearing from Lighthouse Field in February this year. Many have been observed in and around Mountain View Ca since Jan this year and have been reported on iNaturalist but it is not known how many of these were wild or raised monarchs. Several chrysalids, some eggs and caterpillars were also found in the South SF Bay Area since Jan 1, 2023.

Santa Cruz, CA

Latitude: 37 Longitude: -122

Observed by: Diana
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