Monarch Watch Blog

Author Archive

Monarch Population Status

2 August 2011 | Author: Chip Taylor

Monarch Watch turns 20! We started our monarch tagging program in September of 1992 - it doesn't seem that long ago but I guess that we have been so busy that we lost track of the passing years. We began ...

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Monarch Population Status

26 April 2011 | Author: Chip Taylor

I've been monitoring the reports of returning monarchs quite closely this spring. The pattern of the return this year is similar to that seen in 2006 but more exaggerated, with more monarchs moving into the mid latitudes (35-42N) than in ...

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Monarch Caterpillar Dorsal Aorta (video)

29 March 2011 | Author: Chip Taylor

serendipity [ser-uhn-dip-i-tee] -noun. 1. an aptitude for making unexpected and fortunate discoveries Occasionally, there is a little serendipity in the lab. One Friday, a few weeks ago, I noticed an unusual larva, a fourth instar of a "black" larval mutation we are ...

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Book Review: “Fly, Fly Butterfly”

24 January 2011 | Author: Chip Taylor

"Fly, Fly Butterfly" by Diego H. Pedreros Velásquez Interest in monarch butterflies has grown over the last 15 years. Websites featuring monarchs are now common. Monarchs are the subject of numerous blog postings and periodically the topic of newspaper and magazine ...

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Mead’s Milkweed and Monarchs

20 January 2011 | Author: Chip Taylor

From time to time the question arises as to whether monarchs can and do use all species of milkweeds in the genus Asclepias or whether there are some that are too toxic or have so much latex that larvae are ...

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Monarch Population Status

10 July 2010 | Author: Chip Taylor

If you have been following the news about monarch populations over the last 8 months, you know that the 2009 overwintering monarch population in Mexico covered a forest area of only 1.92 hectares. This figure represents an all ...

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Two-way Monarch Migration Map

13 May 2010 | Author: Chip Taylor

With the assistance of noted graphic artist Paul Mirocha of Tucson, Arizona we have created a two-way monarch migration map: Our goal was to produce a comprehensive map representing both the fall and spring migrations both east and west of the ...

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Monarch Population Status

12 May 2010 | Author: Chip Taylor

Abstract Monarchs are off to a good start and the population should increase modestly from now until the fall migration, assuming normal temperatures for the remainder of the breeding season. While an increase is likely, we still don’t have ...

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Grants Available to Create Monarch Waystations

22 April 2010 | Author: Chip Taylor

On the 12th of May I will be part of the Pollinator Live webcast at the National Zoo. I will provide more details on how to connect with this broadcast in the near future but you can get some details from ...

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Post-Storm Status of the Monarch Colonies in Mexico

2 March 2010 | Author: Chip Taylor

In previous blog posts we have described the conditions during the breeding season that resulted in a small migratory population, provided the report from Eduardo Rendón (WWFMexico) indicating that the overwintering population was at an all time low (1.92 hectares), ...

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