Date: 04/09/2023

Number: 6

Beginning April 5th through April 7th, our area experienced a cold front that brought continuous rain & thunderstorms. We had more than 8 inches of rainfall and there was local flooding. During this time of cold rain, I did not see monarchs.

Thankfully, with the rains abated on April 8th, I saw several monarchs flying around and nectaring.

Today at 3:15pm it was 70 degrees F, cloudy, 67% humidity, with light breezes from the N. I saw 6 monarchs: nectaring, egg-laying, flying, and a male chasing a female. There is a lot of fresh milkweed growing in the pastures & yards. And a good number of these new milkweed plants surprisingly them. I also found 1st through 5th instars. Very glad they survived the storms.

An update: I had collected monarch eggs from the freeze-destroyed milkweed back on March 22. Three of those indoor-raised hatched larvae became chrysalises yesterday, April 8th. (About 10 more to go.) As a glimpse into the timeline, the monarch caterpillars in the field are at least a week ahead of these indoor larvae, because I saw a full-bodied 5th instar on March 27th.

This is the photo of a beautiful monarch who was fluttering in our front yard and upper pasture, looking for fresh milkweed (Asclepias viridis) and laying eggs. A lovely Easter blessing!

Montgomery, TX

Latitude: 30.4 Longitude: -95.8

Observed by: Kathy
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