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Contents:
1) Welcome!
3) Deforestation within the Monarch Reserves in Mexico
4) Generation Length, Developmental Zero, & Chronological and Physiological Age
6) Reminder: Order Your Tags Today!
7) Mother's Day Specials at Gulliver's Gift Shop
9) How to Unsubscribe from this Update
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1) Welcome to Monarch Watch's Update List!
You are receiving this email because you have provided Monarch Watch with your email address at some point and expressed interest in receiving updates from us. If you do not wish to receive these periodic (probably monthly) email updates or feel that you were subscribed in error, please see the unsubscribe information at the end of this message.
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Monarch Watch (http://www.MonarchWatch.org) is a not-for-profit educational outreach program based at the University of Kansas. We run a Monarch tagging program and offer Monarch Rearing Kits, Monarch Tagging Kits, and other educational/promotional materials that allow you to actively experience the monarch life cycle and its spectacular fall migration.If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us anytime!
Your friends at Monarch Watch
http://www.MonarchWatch.org
monarch@ku.edu
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Although the number of sightings of monarchs has declined sharply over the last several weeks, the overall pattern of the return migration is on time.
http://www.learner.org/jnorth/images/graphics/monarch/monarch_map042502.html
Weather has limited the movement of monarchs into the lower midwest over the last two weeks. Curiously, over the last 10 days there have been a number of reports of relatively large numbers of faded, tattered, breeding monarchs in central and south central Texas. These butterflies are likely to be returning migrants. In the past my impression was that most of the returning migrants moved out of Texas by mid April; perhaps this isn't the case. We usually see monarchs in Lawrence, KS during the third week on April. Monarchs have been sighted south of Lawrence but the weather has been too cold and wet for monarch spotting over the last week.
Conditions for breeding
The conditions for breeding improved greatly over the past two weeks. Drought or near drought conditions were reported last week for 31 states. Most of these states are in the west or along the Atlantic coast. Drought conditions that were beginning to develop in the midwest have been alleviated by weekly rains or snows for most of the month. This assures that the monarchs moving north out of Texas in May will encounter excellent floral conditions and ample milkweed for the larvae. Nearly all of the overwintering butterflies die by the end of the first week of May and the monarchs moving north in May and early June are their progeny. Last year the flow of monarchs out of Texas in May was exceptional and led to the recovery of the population from the all time overwintering low of 2.83 hectares. We will know in a month if the monarchs have reproduced as well during the first generation this year.
Milkweed emergence
Do monarchs arrive before the milkweeds emerge? Generally, milkweeds emerge close to or just after the average date for last frost at each latitude. Monarchs arrive at about the same time but occasionally both milkweeds and monarchs are caught by freezing weather. This year a late cold front nipped the emerging milkweed over a large area in south central Texas before the monarchs arrived. There have been numerous report on Dplex-L of the progress of milkweeds across the country this spring. Journey North has used their own reports and the information from Dplex to develop a map representing milkweed emergence so far this spring.
http://www.learner.org/jnorth/images/graphics/monarch/milkweed_map042502.gif
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3) Deforestation within the Monarch Reserves in Mexico
The long awaited paper by Lincoln Brower and colleagues on the deforestation within the Monarch Reserves in Mexico has recently been published in Conservation Biology. If you belong to an institution that subscribes to this journal, this article is available, in HTML and PDF formats at: http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/servlet/useragent?func=synergy&synergyAction=showTOC&journalCode=cbi&volume=16&issue=2&year=2002&part=null
The full citation for the paper is:
Brower, L. P., G. Castilleja, A. Peralta, J. Lopez-Garcia, L.Bojorquez-Tapia, S. Diaz, D. Melgarejo, and M. Missrie. 2002. Quantitative changes in forest quality in a principal overwintering area of the monarch butterfly in Mexico: 1971 - 1999. Conservation Biology 16:346-359.
I'd suggest downloading the PDF format to view the images on page 353. These images show the vegetative cover at Chincua, Campanario (El Rosario), and Chivati-Huacal, the three major sites for overwintering monarchs near Angangueo/Ocampo, for 1971, 1984 and 1999. The evidence for deforestation over the last 28 years, but especially the last 15, is readily apparent in these images.
A few quotes from the Abstract:
"Passage of the 1986 decree failed to protect the forest."
"What in 1971 was a nearly continuous high-quality forest is now fragmented and severely degraded. Between 1971 and 1999, 44% of conserved forest (forest with >80% cover) was degraded..."
"The annual rate of degradation from 1971 to 1984 was 1.70%, and this increased to 2.41% during the next 15 years."
The article also points out the successful implementation of the presidential decree of 2000, which enlarged the reserves, will require effective control of logging and restoration of degraded areas.
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4) Generation Length, Developmental Zero, & Chronological and Physiological Age
Generation length is a fuzzy concept when applied to insects. Some authorities define generation length as the development from egg to the adult stage while others include the interval from emergence as an adult to the time of first reproduction. In monarchs, this difference can be significant since there is often a delay of 3-6 days from emergence to mating and egg laying. It is also possible to define the generations from egg laying to the midpoint of the adult reproductive life. Monarchs are also unusual in having a long-lived migratory generation.
At this time of year the interval from the date an egg is laid to the emergence of the adult is of greatest interest. Surprisingly this can be quite variable in the spring and in some areas, such as south Texas, this interval can be as short as 25 days and in others further north 44 and perhaps even 50 days. This variation is related to temperature which governs developmental rate. Both low and high temperatures can slow development and it is at intermediate temperatures that monarchs develop most rapidly. The low temperatures play a particularly interesting role in the spring. Often temperatures reach "developmental zero" for monarchs in the spring. This means that temperatures reach a point where all growth and development of the immature stages cease. Experiments have shown this temperature to be 11.5 C (52.7 F) in the absence of sunlight. Every hour of developmental zero adds to the chronological age of the monarch but does not necessarily change its physiological age. To envision this, imagine that the first female monarch in your area in the spring lays an egg on the milkweed in your garden at 3pm on a Sunday in April. However, by 7pm, a mere 4 hours later, a cold front moves in that drops the temperatures into the low 50s and then the 40s. The skies remain cloudy and the temperatures remain cold and don't exceed 50 degrees for the rest of the week. The following Sunday the temperatures hit 60 by noon and by late afternoon full sunlight and temperatures of 75 degrees brings another female monarch to your garden. This female lays a number of eggs around 4pm. A period of warm weather follows and these eggs and the egg laid the previous week all develop and become adults some 35 days later. The chronological age of the monarch from the first egg is 42 days at emergence and those from the second group of eggs is 35 days. Chronologically they differ but physiologically they are similar. At best, they differ by the number of hours that the first egg experienced temperatures above developmental zero on the first (<4) and second Sundays (<6).
Generally, the first members of a population to breed have an advantage and produce adults sooner; however, as you can see from this example, this is not necessarily the case for the first monarchs arriving from Mexico in the spring.
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The final tag count for the season is in: 1,943 tags were purchased in Mexico. This is the highest number of recoveries ever in the history of tagging monarch butterflies! This number includes 104 of the counterfeit tags, 23 tags used by other taggers (Lincoln Brower, Fred Urquhart, and Gayle Steffy). There were 1,896 Monarch Watch tags purchased in Mexico; however, 80 of these were purchased by others and donated to the program. A total of $10,803.08 was spent on the 1,943 tags - 50 pesos (about $5.56) for each tag.
We appreciate the response we received to our pleas for donations for this cause. Our contributors kicked in a total $8,034.63 for the season. When the $345.00 surplus in the fund from last year is added, we had a total of $8,379.63 available in this fund for purchase of tags. However, this leaves us with a negative balance of -$2,423.45 for this season. With your help, we hope to bring this balance to zero and begin building the Tag Recovery Fund for next year!
The 2001 Season Recoveries of tagged monarchs within in the United States and Canada has been updated and is available online at
http://www.MonarchWatch.org/tagmig/2001_recoveries.html
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6) Reminder: Order Your Tags Today!
We have run out of tags the last two seasons, but we cannot afford to process more than the 250,000 tags we distribute each fall. So, in order to guarantee that you will receive the number of tags you want, we need you to place your orders before May 31, 2002. Orders received after that date will be filled in the order that they are received so there is a chance that we will not have tags available for last minute requests that come in during August and September.
Head on over to Gulliver's Gift Shop and order your 2002 Tagging Membership and additional tags today!
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7) Mother's Day Specials at Gulliver's Gift Shop
Want to give your Mom a gift that lasts longer than flowers? Consider giving here one these butterfly gardening presents from Gulliver's Gift Shop. To check out these and other gifts for Mom, visit Gulliver's Gift Shop at http://Shop.MonarchWatch.org
Attracting Butterflies to Your Backyard
In this video you will learn about the natural history of the butterflies; the plants and flowers irresistible to the butterflies; visit butterfly centers and gardens all across America; and receive advice from experts on how to attract butterflies to your home. Attracting Butterflies was filmed across North America in action-packed close-up and slow motion cinematography. VHS -- 55-minute videocassette. $19.95 http://shop.monarchwatch.org/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=eNature&category%5Fname=Video+%2D+Butterflies&product%5Fid=9999%2D00077%2D0
Ortho's All About Attracting Hummingbirds and Butterflies
This is an excellent book that gives wonderful tips on attracting these beautiful creatures to your yard. There are explanations of anatomy, life cycle, and food requirements of both hummingbirds and butterflies. 15 plans for gorgeous gardens that double as friendly habitats. Another resource in this book is a gallery of plants that will entice the hummers and butterflies that includes regional recommendations. 236 photographs. Paperback - 96 pages. $11.95 http://shop.monarchwatch.org/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=eNature&category%5Fname=Butterfly+Gardening+Guides&product%5Fid=897214560
Gardening Packs
We have developed gift sets of butterfly gardening items for Moms of all levels of interest in attracting butterflies. The gift packs vary in price and selection depending on what level of interest your Mom has. All three gift packs make a great gift for spring or summer. http://shop.monarchwatch.org/category.asp?catalog%5Fname=eNature&category%5Fname=Butterfly+Gift+Packs&Page=1
Note Cards and Stationery on Recycle Paper
We carry a full line of beautiful note cards and stationery printed on environmentally responsible papers. Each set of note cards has 6 beautifully printed cards and their envelopes. The stationery sets come with 12 sheets with lovely prints, 12 blank sheets, and 12 envelopes. They all make great gifts for your mother. Prices vary.
If you are having difficulty in using the links above, simply copy the entire link, paste it into the address field of your web browser, and hit "return".
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There is very little more engaging in science education than hands-on learning. Experiences like watching a caterpillar pupate for the first time or having one of the butterflies you tagged be recovered in Mexico is a memorable and often powerful experience for students. This is why Monarch Watch is such a wonderful program and why I have enjoyed my time working here so much. As a Program Assistant, I have done work that supports creative learning and research experiences for students of all ages from all across the country. I have learned so much from working with Chip, Cathy, & Jim, and will take with me a suite of experiences that I am certain I will draw upon for many years. Visiting the roosts in Mexico for the first time during the 2001 Adopt-a-Classroom trip was awe-inspiring and the magic of their annual migration is something that will continue to fascinate me.
I am headed to Madison, Wisconsin where I will begin graduate work in their Zoology department. I will be doing research on birds, not butterflies, but the Monarchs will always be very special to me. Thanks to Monarch Watch all who support it for such a wonderful opportunity. I will miss you dearly. --Sarah
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