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Contents:

1) Status of the Population

2) Tagging Kits – Get ‘em while you can!

3) Online Submission of Monarch Waystation Application

4) Rain Gardens and Monarch Waystations

5) Monarch Tag Recovery Update

6) Monarch Degree Days For The Last Three Seasons

7) Harvest and Storage of Milkweed Seeds

8) Morelia Monarch Conference Books

9) About Our Update List

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Unless otherwise noted, all content was authored by Chip Taylor, edited by Jim Lovett and Sarah Schmidt, and published by Jim Lovett.

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1) Status of the Population

They’re back! The monarchs are making a recovery from the low populations that have persisted since the winter of 2004. As you may recall, severe storms at the overwintering sites in January and February of 2004 reduced the population to an extremely low level. In fact, the number of returning monarchs in the spring of 2004 was the lowest recorded in recent years (Table 1). Unfortunately, the conditions through most of the breeding season were unfavorable last summer. The cold weather that prevailed in the northern portion of the breeding range limited the number of monarch generations and reduced population size. The result was the most erratic migration we’ve experienced since we started Monarch Watch in 1992 and the lowest overwintering population recorded to date in Mexico (2.19 hectares). [To see how this year compares with the previous two years in terms on monarch degree days, see the degree day tabulation below.]

The good news is that we should see a near average migration in most of the country this fall and an overwintering population in Mexico that could be in the five to seven hectare range or higher (a considerable improvement over last year, yet a bit below the long-term average of nine hectares). Am I being too optimistic? I don’t think so. The number of monarch sightings in June was the highest recorded in the last six years (Table 1). Further, the reports from Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan are positive and the conditions for monarch reproduction for the last generation of the season appear to be favorable throughout the breeding range. The possible exceptions are north central Illinois, northern Indiana, and extreme southern Michigan, which are all experiencing drought conditions. Monarchs are spotty in New England, but that is generally the case at this time of year. The northeast should see a modest migration this fall - one that is a bit below that of the long-term average; however, that could change. New females should be emerging every day for the next two weeks and if conditions are favorable for egg laying from now through the first week of August, the fall population could be average, or even a bit above average, in this region.

All in all, the prospects for a good fall migration are excellent!

Table 1. Number of monarch sightings reported to Journey North from 1 March through 8 July in 2005-2000 exclusive of states west of the Rockies and Florida. In the Totals column the numbers in parentheses are observations in Texas. The second to last column gives the proportion of the total observations that were from Texas and the last column shows the number of hectares of monarchs measured at the overwintering sites the following winter.

* Years with relatively low numbers of butterflies returning from Mexico.
** Two small colonies not included in total.
*** Sometimes erroneously reported as 3.83 hectares.

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2) Tagging Kits - Get 'em while you can!

As you can see from this month’s status report, it is now certain that the migration this fall will be larger than that of last year. However, as we reported last month, we commissioned the production of only 200,000 tags for this tagging season (100,000 fewer than each of the last two seasons). So if you are planning to tag monarchs this fall (or are purchasing tags for a school or organization) you should place your order soon. The orders are increasing each day now and it is possible that all tags will be distributed by the end of August – well before the migration gets into full swing.

Our new "Mini" Tagging Kits are a big hit with Nature Centers, Schools, and other organizations that distribute tags to others. The Standard Tagging Kits are for most individuals. Both types of Monarch Tagging Kits are available now via the Monarch Watch Shop online (24/7) at

http://Shop.MonarchWatch.org/category.aspx?c=tagging_kits

or by calling 1-800-780-9986 (M-F 8am-8pm ET)

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3) Online Submission of Monarch Waystation Application

Our Monarch Waystation program continues to grow. We are making new connections weekly with milkweed growers, groups interested in incorporating milkweeds in their habitats restoration projects, and others who are creating Waystations. Up to this point our registration and certification system has been quite basic and applicants have had to fax or mail in their applications. The good news is that the entire process has now been automated and the applications can now be completed online. We hope that by making the application process easier, more of you will choose to register and certify your monarch habitats as Monarch Waystations. We are confident that you will find the process of registration and certification easier than that for comparable programs.

A link to the new online application for Monarch Waystation certification is available at

http://www.MonarchWatch.org/ws/

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4) Rain Gardens and Monarch Waystations

What is a rain garden anyway? When I first heard the term “rain garden” my mind drifted to locations I’ve visited in the steaming, rainy tropics - of small towns with narrow streets and houses with balconies festooned with hanging flowers. With this image in mind I was sure that rain gardens didn’t relate to monarchs, but they do. In fact, rain gardens and Monarch Waystations fit well together. Rain gardens are catchment basins, usually relatively small, that are designed to catch rainwater runoff from buildings, parking lots, etc. The purpose of these gardens is to impound the runoff long enough for it to infiltrate the soil. The objective is to reduce the total volume of water reaching drainage systems, to recharge the water table, and to incorporate pollutants into the soil where they will break down due to the action of soil organisms and chemical processes. Reducing the quantity of pollutants reaching the natural watercourses that constitute our watersheds is an important goal. The impact of pollutants in runoff is dramatically illustrated by the growing dead-zone*, an area lacking oxygen and therefore most living forms, where the Mississippi River drains into the Gulf of Mexico. In much of the country, the development of housing and shopping centers in and around our cities has outstripped the capacity of older drainage or sewer systems to manage the runoff when rainfall is high, leading to flooding, property damage, and even loss of life. Upgrading the capacity of these drainage systems is a priority for many cities but it is a slow process and one that is exceedingly expensive. Rain gardens are a relatively cheap alternative but large numbers of these gardens are needed to significantly reduce runoff. A considerable effort is underway to convince municipalities and property owners that it is in their best interests to create rain gardens. In some cities, areas with new housing incorporate rain gardens as part of the development plan. Incentives to create the rain gardens are provided in some cases. Convincing the average homeowner to create a rain garden appears to be more difficult, since these projects can be labor intensive and costly.

Homeowners might be more interested in rain gardens if, in addition to containing runoff and controlling pollutants, these sites can be designed to provide habitats for wildlife. Designing the gardens with wildlife in mind should give them more value to the homeowner. Providing for wildlife is a matter of plant selection. All of the rain garden guidelines I’ve found online call for the utilization of native perennial plants**. The plants chosen for these sites could be selected, in part, on the basis of the resources they provide for butterflies, native pollinators and birds. Incorporating milkweeds into these gardens, together with nectar plants appropriate for butterflies, would provide the resources needed to support monarch butterflies and many other species. This design is precisely what we are advocating for Monarch Waystations:

http://www.MonarchWatch.org/ws/

In our part of the Midwest there are at least 5 milkweed species that could be utilized in rain gardens, Asclepias incarnata, A. syriaca, A. tuberosa, A. sullivantii, and A. verticillata. These milkweed species differ in their requirements and tolerances. Swamp milkweed (A. incarnata) could be planted in the wettest parts of the basins with others planted more to the periphery depending on their tolerance for moist conditions. These milkweeds are all good hosts for monarchs and have showy flowers. An added benefit of incorporating numerous nectar producing native perennials is that they provide nectar and pollen for numerous pollinators. [Fragmentation of habitats, particularly those of our native solitary bees, appears to be significantly reducing the populations of these species, many of whom play critical roles in the pollination of native plants.] Some of the plants could be selected on the basis of the food they provide for seed eating birds. The rain garden sites could be further enhanced for wildlife by adding bird-houses and nesting sites for solitary bees. Thus, rain gardens, which are designed to retard runoff and reduce the flow of pollutants into our watersheds, can be configured as Monarch Waystations and to provide useful habitats for wildlife.

If you are interested in helping us create Monarch Waystation habitats you might also consider creating a rain garden at the same time. Contact your local extension office, Masters Gardeners, or municipality to determine if rain gardens are being created in your area. In some cities, plans are under discussion for the creation of thousands of rain gardens. By incorporating milkweeds and nectar plants into these gardens, we can add monarchs to the urban landscape and do our part to help offset the 1.2 million acres of monarch and wildlife habitat that are lost each year due to development.

*Dead zone – informative web sites:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_zone
http://www.sierraclub.org/cleanwater/waterquality/deadzone.asp

** Rain gardens – informative web sites. There are a large number of web sites devoted to rain gardens. The following sites provide background on the rain garden concept, illustrated guides on how to create rain gardens, and lists of potential plants to incorporate in these sites, etc. The plants listed for many of these programs are similar. However, these lists should be looked on as guidelines as there are many alternative species that could be used beneficially in these settings.

http://www.appliedeco.com/RainGardens.cfm
http://clean-water.uwex.edu/pubs/raingarden/
http://www.marc.org/water/raingardens.pdf
http://www.extension.umn.edu/yardandgarden/YGLNews/YGLN-May0101.html#rain
http://raingarden.il.gov/introduction.htm

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5) Monarch Tag Recovery Update

All 10,000+ Monarch Watch tag recoveries (1992 to date) are now accessible via a searchable database on our website. The search engine works well but is still very much a work in progress. It will take some time for us to proofread all of these records for typos, missing data, etc. but we are working on it as time allows. In the meantime, there are about 8800 records that are complete enough to work with. In the following summaries, I will work with the numbers that any of you can access from the database. Please be aware that the numbers below will change as additional records become available. Nevertheless, broad trends in the data will probably remain the same even with the addition of more recoveries.

Note that Monarch Watch taggers do not tag west of the divide, so western states are excluded from the list below. None of the monarchs tagged east of the divide have been collected at an overwintering site in California.

Table 1. The size of the overwintering monarch population in Mexico and the number of recoveries. The total area occupied by overwintering Monarch colonies in Mexico is shown in the first column. The areas and proportions of the total population are shown for El Campanario (El Rosario), the site of >80% of the recovered tags each year. The total number of tags recovered in Mexico, the number tagged, % recovered, and the ratio of the number tagged per recovery are shown for each year. This table was modified from p52 of the 2001 Monarch Watch Season Summary. The data were assembled from reports received from Eligo Garcia Serrano and Eduardo Rendon.

Notes:

• The number of butterflies tagged is estimated for all years except 2001/2002 and 2003/2004.

• Alar (fold over the wing tags) were used in 1992.

• Rectangular tags glued to the underside of the hindwing were used from 1993 through 1996.

• New self-adhesive circular lightweight tags applied to the discal cell were introduced in 1997.

• Rewards for tags recovered in Mexico were first offered in the winter of 1998/1999.

• Massive mortality due to winter storms occurred in the winters of 2001/2002 and 2003/2004.

The data in Table 1 require more analysis but there are a few points worth mentioning now. The adoption of circular tags and the payment for recoveries in the fall and winter of 1997 and 1998 had a dramatic influence on the recoveries. Note how the number tagged per recovery, the last column in Table 1, dropped sharply with the use of the new tags. An implication of this result is that a greater proportion of the butterflies with the circular tags survived to reach Mexico. This interpretation is further supported by the data in Table 2, which show that while the number of monarchs tagged with circular tags recovered within the United States has been relatively constant since 1997, the number recovered in Mexico has usually been higher. The ratio of US/MX recoveries is reduced to extremely low levels during winters with massive mortality due to storms (2001/2002 and 2003/2004). Cold winters aside, it is not clear how the recovery of tags is related to the size of the colony(ies) at El Rosario, the site of about 80% of the recoveries each year. Although the number of tags recovered was lowest in 2000/2001 and in 2004/2005 (the two years with the fewest hectares of butterflies) the numbers recovered in other years do not, at first glance, seem to be related to colony size. Other factors, such as the remoteness of the colonies and the density of the forest where the colonies form, which often differs from year to year, may influence the rate of tag recoveries.

Table 2. Recoveries in the US and Mexico for butterflies tagged in each fall season.

Table 3. Recoveries In Mexico By State

Top Ten US States for Recoveries in Mexico:

1. Iowa (most recoveries)
2. Kansas
3. Minnesota
4. Texas
5. Oklahoma
6. Illinois
7. Ohio
8. South Dakota
9. Nebraska
10. Missouri/Michigan (tie)

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6) Monarch Degree Days for the Last Three Seasons

By Janis Lentz and Chip Taylor

To get a better idea of how this season compares with the two previous seasons, last month we calculated the degree days for each year for five cities: Winnipeg (Manitoba, Canada), St. Paul, MN; Des Moines, IA; Lawrence, KS; and Dallas, TX. The calculations start with the approximate date of first arrival of monarchs for each location. The accumulated degree days as of 14 July are shown in Table 1. The number of degree days is higher so far in 2005 than for previous years for all cities except Dallas, which was slightly warmer in 2003. The difference between this season and 2004 is most pronounced for Winnipeg, St. Paul, and Des Moines. Clearly, the conditions for monarch reproduction and development are more favorable this season than for the last two years, especially 2004. If you look at the day-to-day degree day table for Winnipeg below, you will see that 20-25 degree days are accumulating per day. At this rate, the earliest egg laying should produce new adults on 20 or 21 July and thereafter, assuming that monarchs arrived in Winnipeg on 7 June or later. If this is true, what will happen to the earliest monarchs in the Winnipeg area? Will they become reproductive or will they enter diapause and linger in the area until the migration begins at that latitude around 15 August? Becoming reproductive is not a good option since it is unlikely that larvae started at this latitude in late July would experience enough degree days to complete their development. Moving south and becoming part of the pre-migration migration before the true migration begins is another option. Since the reports from Winnipeg suggest there will be an abundance of monarchs in this area in late July and August, it will be interesting to see when reproduction stops and when the butterflies leave the region.

Table 1. Accumulated monarch degree days and potential monarch generations for selected cities as of 14 July for the last three years. The number of degree days for each year is listed in the year column. Gens = number of generations

Monarchs require 720 degree days to complete development from egg to egg, that is, from the time an egg is laid until a female has mated and laid her first egg. At high temperatures these degree days accumulate rapidly and development can be completed in as little as 24 days. At cooler temperatures, degree days accumulate over a longer interval and generation lengths can increase to 40 and even 50 days, thus reducing the potential number of generations per season. Further, an increase in generation length has the effect of exposing the larvae for longer periods to predators, parasites and other environmental hazards that could reduce the proportion of the larvae reaching the adult stage. The formula used to calculate degree days is presented in the “Teaching with Monarchs” article in the January 2005 Update. The formula is quite easy to use - give it a try for your city.

In the tables below, the monarch degree days are shown for Winnipeg, St. Paul, Des Moines, Lawrence and Dallas for the past three seasons. The table for each city starts on the average date of first arrival of monarchs at that latitude. We will add to the tables below through the September Update.

Winnipeg, Manitoba (Canada) 49:54:00N 97:07:48W

St. Paul, MN 44:56:52N 93:06:13W

Des Moines, IA 41:34:36N 93:37:03W

Lawence, KS 38:57:46N 95:15:19W

Dallas, TX 32:47:39N 96:45:55W

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7) Harvest and Storage of Milkweed Seeds

Are you looking for a project for students, a 4H group, Girl Scouts or Boy Scouts? Here’s a good one: get them involved with milkweed restoration and the creation of Monarch Waystations. A good way to start is by harvesting milkweed pods, separating the seeds, and storing the seeds for planting next spring. The seed pods can be collected and dried in paper bags or mesh grapefruit or onion bags. (We prefer the latter and will be offering a set of five mesh bags via the Monarch Watch Shop). The timing of the collection of milkweed pods is critical. Mature pods are those that are within a day or two of opening or have just opened. If you squeeze the pods and they don’t open easily, they usually do not contain mature brown seeds. Seeds well into the process of browning and hardening will germinate when planted the next season. Pale or white seeds should be not collected. Freshly collected pods should be dried in an open area with good air circulation. If mesh bags are used, they can simply be hung up in a storage area. Once the pods are thoroughly dry, the seeds can be separated from the coma, or silk-like ballooning material, by hand. Separation of seeds can also be accomplished by stripping the seeds and coma from the pods into a paper bag. Shake the contents of the bag vigorously to separate the seeds from the coma and then cut a small hole in a corner of the bottom of the bag and shake out the seeds into a suitable container. The whole process can get messy, so it’s best done outdoors, but the kids will love it. Processed seeds should be stored in a cool, dry place protected from mice and insects. If possible, store the seeds in a reclosable plastic bag or other sealed container in a refrigerator.

Photos: Viridis Seed Collection

The children can select locations to plant their seeds during the winter. In some cases, they may wish to donate surplus seeds for local habitat restoration projects (e.g. Quail Unlimited, Pheasants Forever), work with farmers restoring CRP (Conservation Reserve Program) land, assist with planting gardens managed by the communities they live in or they may wish to partner with Master Gardeners or others who can help them create Monarch Waystations at schools, nature centers, retirement homes, etc.

A CAUTION:
Most of you will collect pods of the common milkweed and if you harvest mature pods they usually will not contain latex. However, if milkweeds should contain latex at the time of harvest, please be sure to caution all seed collectors not to rub their eyes after contact with a latex containing plant. If possible, wear gloves while collecting the pods and urge all participants to wash their hands after handling the milkweed pods. If latex should get in the eye of a participant, an unlikely occurrence, seek medical attention immediately.

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8) Morelia Monarch Conference Books

While cleaning out a storage area, we discovered twenty-four copies of the substantial publication resulting from the North American Conference on the Monarch Butterfly held in Morelia, Mexico in 1997. The topics included in this volume are papers that deal with biology, conservation, sustainability and development, and environmental education. We will distribute these books on a first come first serve basis for the cost of shipping. If you would like a copy, please email us at monarch@ku.edu (include “Morelia Conference Books” in the subject) with your shipping address and we will respond with further details.

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9) About Our Update List

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