Eastern Monarchs Now In Arizona?

[Paul Cherubini]

in recent days Gail and Bob Morris acquired circumstantial evidence that some EASTERN monarchs have already spilled over the Continental Divide and entered Arizona. On June 18, 19 and 20 they sighted at least four monarchs at the Wenima Wildlife Area about 5 miles northwest of Springerville, Arizona:
http://i959.photobucket.com/albums/ae78 ... demap2.jpg
Here is what they saw:
http://www.butterflydigest.com/s/digest ... e;id=70491
Here is a photo of one of the monarchs they saw:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3 ... 3871220443

California monarchs have been so rare this spring they have not been observed around many of the major milkweed growing areas in central or northern California or in the Pacific Northwest or the Great Basin. So it's highly unlikely that California is the source of the many monarchs Gail and Bob observed in recent days in the Springerville area of eastern Arizona about 60 miles west of the
Continental Divide.

At the end of June I'm going up to Montana to search for monarchs west of the Continental Divide in the vicinity of Missoula. If I sight some, it would add additional circumstantial evidence in support of the notion that some eastern monarchs are moving in westerly directions across the Continental Divide in June in the entire area between Canada and Mexico.

[Mona Miller]

People who vacation usually take their butterflies with them. If they emerge, they let them go. Also, there are butterflies being sent places that they should not be sent and released where they should not be released.

The fact is how do you tell a natural occurrence from a release. I can't.

Many people are not aware of the fact that butterflies and moths cannot be mailed without a permit or that Monarchs cannot be sent from eastern states to western states and vice versa.

For more information on permits:
http://www.insectnet.com/usda.htm

[Paul Cherubini]

The 4 monarchs in question were spotted in a rural mountainous area of Arizona at about 7,000 feet elevation. The nearest city (Springerville, AZ) has only about 2,000 people. Thus the chances these butterflies were derived from a release are extremely remote.

[Mona Miller]

Really, remote. But, how do you prove they are natural. You can assume, but you can't prove.

The reality is that everyone already knows that the Monarchs go from east to west and vice versa. All the scientists now agree on that. The issue is that some states don't allow transfer because of endangered milkweeds or other issues. Journey North has been following this issue for years.

Dr. Urquhart's tagging data from Monarch Watch website:
http://www.monarchwatch.org/grafx/tagmig/u71map.gif
I guess from CA to Utah is not close enough.
http://www.monarchwatch.org/grafx/tagmig/u81map.gif
California to 2/3s way across AZ.
http://www.monarchwatch.org/grafx/tagmig/u94map.gif
From Idaho to UT and AZ

http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/monarc ... gUtah.html
http://www.learner.org/jnorth/fall2004/ ... 92404.html
Not All Monarchs Go to Mexico Utah Students Study “Western” Monarchs
Mr. Ron Hellstern of Byrum, Utah, wrote:
“My classes initiated the Intermountain Monarch Butterfly Project. We are associated with the Monarch Program of San Diego, and have helped them determine the winter migration destinations of Intermountain Monarchs.
“When we started this project back in 1994 there was little, if any, knowledge about the migration routes or roosts of the Intermountain Western population. My students helped to establish the baseline data, and recruit other schools along the western slope of the Rocky Mountains to assist in collecting this information.
"Thanks to some of our tags, our Monarchs have been spotted in Santa Cruz, California, which means these beautiful and delicate creatures cross the Great Basin Desert and the Sierra. Amazing!!! Our monarchs may not be going to Mexico, but we feel just as attached to them."

http://www.greatbasinweb.com/gb2-3/monarch.htm
The Way of the Monarch, Michael Pyle

http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/ ... ticle/544/
"I remember a day in western Colorado, motoring to a noted habitat with my graduate advisor, Charles Remington. A lone monarch perched among a throng of Charlotte’s fritillaries, fiery orange males, chocolatey females, nectaring on big purple bull thistles. I asked my professor where he thought that monarch would end up. The reigning idea was that all of the fall monarchs born west of the Continental Divide wintered on the California coast. We were on the western slope, all right, if by less than a hundred miles; but it was a long, hot, arid way due west to California, across the Great Basin. Could it not be just as likely that a monarch in the intermountain West might follow the major drainages southward—the Green, the Colorado—and wind up in Mexico? Besides, as a former kid collector who’d haunted the Colorado high country whenever possible, I had seen monarchs crossing the Rockies crest in both directions, and doubted its effectiveness as an ultimate barrier."

http://10000birds.com/flyways-and-byways.htm
Monarchs use the same flyways as birds. Many are eaten along the way by migrating birds (esp. hawks).
http://www.main.org/polycosmos/biosquat/ensom.htm
Surfing Climate Change-ENSO Migration & Birdcasting
I am one class away from getting my Natural History Certification. I think in more areas so I see more of a whole picture.

http://www.monarchprogram.org/news/index.htm
"The Monarch Program has three spring tagged retrievals in Arizona from California and Baja California overwintering sites:
1. Santa Barbara, CA (7 Nov. 1987) to Portal, AZ (9 April), 565 miles
2. El Sauzal, B.C. (13 Dec. 1997) to Gila Bend, AZ (13 March), 250 miles
3. Santa Barbara, CA (Dec. or Jan. 2000) to Page, AZ (14 April), 480 miles"
"Nine Possible Reasons the Monarch Population is Changing and Why We Have New Butterfly Species in the Southwest" Scroll down and look at this.
"NEWS FLASH: WHAT ARE THE ODDS?
Nearly two months later, on December 8th, 2005, Marriott and a group of volunteers spotted the butterfly in a cluster of monarchs in Carpinteria at a site known as Carpinteria Creek (Santa Barbara County), about 145 miles straight line distance northwest of Camp Pendleton. One tagged monarch, one recovery -- this has never happened before. The datum continues to support Marriott’s research that monarchs fly northwest to sites that have cooler microclimates when the temperatures are too warm in the Southwest (click here for migration patterns and previous records)."

http://www.fs.fed.us/monarchbutterfly/d ... Brower.pdf
Search on mountains, tagging, California. There's loads of historical migration information in this document. Here are a few:

Page 16 - end of second paragraph
"Inkersly (1911:283) provided the first detailed description of monarchs overwintering in Pacific Grove, and speculated that they probably originated in "the country west of the Rocky Mountains."

Page 17
"Shepardson was the first person who clearly distinguished the eastern and western migratory populations of the monarch. She wrote: "It is presumed that those which are in the eastern and middle-western states go to the south during the cold weather, while those which winter near Pacific Grove come from a large part of the country lying west of the Rocky Mountains" (p. 29)....." continue reading this for some awesome info.

Page 320:
"Mary Barber (1918:5-6), in another overlooked and informative booklet, Winter Butterflies in Bolinas, stated that Bolinas (immediately north of San Francisco) "is the winter home of the Monarch butterfly which comes not only from the Sierra Nevada mountains but also from the western ranges of the Rockies." In describing the fall migration, she wrote "Thousands of these frail butterflies start on their long journey toward the Pacific, in search of a mild climate, free from frost and snow, in which they can live all winter."

[MonarchsintheDesert]

Bob and I saw the monarchs at Wenima Wildlife Area near Springerville last weekend. Last year we spotted monarchs at this site on July 12, 2009 for the first time. This year we were in the area leading a "Save the Monarchs" workshop and thought we'd check out the milkweed when we were delighted to see these four jewels. The female we spotted on Friday night at 6PM looking for a tree to roost and the one we eventually tagged on Sunday morning near 8AM was very old and likely the same one. After talking to several experts they suspect she was in the field at the beginning of June. In contrast the two males we spotted around 3 PM on Saturday were quite fresh and new with good color. The final monarch we saw was speeding just over the meadow Saturday morning and the gender was unknown.

Up until this year it is well documented that in summer by July monarchs move into Wenima Wildlife Area on the eastern border of Arizona along the Little Colorado River and breed until the beginning of September. This year we found them in June. Because this pattern persists for several years that are well documented, it appears unlikely these are released butterflies. The extended area is very sparsely inhabited. But it does raise the question WHERE they come from. I don't know. Bob and I just share what we see when we see it. It is possible monarchs arrive at Wenima every year in June. This will have to be explored further next year.

What I can share from monitoring them last year and affirmed by local residents is it appears that monarch butterflies appear in Wenima by July and spread to Sipe Wildlife Area by late July, Silver Creek Fish Hatchery near Show Low and Pinetop by August. There appears to be movement from the east to the west. However it is unclear when these are "eastern" monarchs moving west or monarchs that have followed the Colorado River to the Little Colorado River valley where we found them.

We did take O.e. samples. Wenima Wildlife Area is located at an elevation of 7,200 feet. In a year of few monarchs we were delighted to find them.

[Mona Miller]

http://www.nps.gov/romo/naturescience/r ... roject.htm
Rich Bray has been doing surveys in the Rocky Mountain State Park in Colorado. He sees Monarchs in the park and traveling over the park.

No one doubts that there is exchange between the East and the West and vice versa. Monarchs use flyways that are used by birds, the birds have no earthly boundaries.

[Mona Miller]

With regards to releases, are you aware that some people will actually buy butterflies at the same time every year to release them. This is done for birthdays and memorial or some organizations buy them as a fundrasiers.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rlz= ... =&gs_rfai=
Key words in the search are "butterfly release, fundraisers"

[Paul Cherubini]

Bob and I saw the monarchs at Wenima Wildlife Area near Springerville last weekend.

Gail, you could be missing out on alot of milkweed and monarch action if you limit yourself to wildlife refuge and other "natural" type habitats. All over the West at mid and high elevations milkweed tends to be common on the farmland that surrounds many towns and cities. For example: have you searched for milkweed on the outskirts of Springerville and Eagar along the farm roads, railway lines and horse/cattle pastures?: http://i959.photobucket.com/albums/ae78/18R-C/eagar.jpg Ditto other cities such as Show Low, AZ. In mid-Aug. 2007 I found alot of speciosa and a moderate amount of subverticillata on the farmland outside of Farmington and Bloomfield, New Mexico plus some monarchs too.

[Paul Cherubini]

Mona, all those "awesome" sounding reports about "thousands" or "millions" of monarchs migrating in the Siskiyou Mountains of Calif. and vast numbers in Oregon and Washington in Aug and Sept. are all false - the butterflies were actually California Tortoiseshells, not monarchs. Likewise, Lucia Shepardson's early 19th century report about a cloud or carpet of monarchs crossing Monterey Bay is also a fantasy and cast doubt over the credibility of her other observations. In reality, Monarchs arrive in Pacific Grove very gradually over a 2 1/2 month period (Sept. 1 - Nov. 15). In other words, if a total of 200,000 arrived each year on average 75 years ago, it would be over a period of 75 days. 200,000 divided by 75 = 2,666 butterflies per day on average. While that sound like alot, 2,666 butterflies spread out over 5 square miles of Monterey Peninsula (3,200 acres) = about only one butterfly per acre of land - not hardly a "cloud" or "carpet".

[Mona Miller]

Where is the data that shows that the butterflies weren't Monarchs? There you go assuming again.

Monarchs do cross over water. Why would it be a fantasy? They hopped the island chain all the way to New Zealand.

Neither of us were around back in the early 19 hundreds. We have to take historical accounts as facts.

Wish I could trust your information.