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Contents:
1) Report on Deforestation in Mexico
2) New Update Index
3) Status of the Population
4) Tag Recoveries
5) Western Monarchs
6) Pesticides Used on Pets and Monarch Rearing
7) Scaleless Monarchs
8) Monarchs in Spain
9) Upcoming Monarch Events
10) New DVD on Butterflies and Skippers
11) 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) Report on Deforestation in Mexico
If you have been following the Updates, you know that in the last 6 months there has been extensive deforestation in Mexico in the vicinity of the overwintering monarch colonies. The deforestation has occurred in both the buffer zones and the core areas that constitute the Monarch Biosphere Reserve. In previous Updates (May-July 2004) we provided a number of translations of articles that appeared in the Mexican press concerning the deforestation and the government's attempts to control it. We also referred (June 2004 Update) to the efforts by World Wildlife Fund Mexico to document the extent of the deforestation and the various efforts by landowners to block the illegal logging. Thanks to WWF Mexico, in particular Omar Vidal, Carlos Galindo-Leal, and Jordi Honey Rosés, we are now able to provide an English translation of the WWF Mexico report on the extent of the illegal logging over the last three years and its impact on the Monarch Biosphere Reserve. A PDF file (1.6MB, 37pp) of the report, is available for download at:
http://www.MonarchWatch.org/update/2004/WWF_Report.pdf
If you are interested in monarch conservation and the long-term preservation of the monarch migration in eastern North America, I urge you to read this report. You should note both what the report says and doesn't say about illegal logging and the prospects for controlling it in the future. This report provides us with stark realities with respect to deforestation and habitat conservation in Mexico. These realities need to be confronted by the stewards of the eastern monarch population, Canada, the United States, and Mexico, to assure that the migration continues. In my view, it is unlikely that the migration, as we know it, will continue unless the three countries work cooperatively to assure the perpetuation of both the breeding habitat in the north and the overwintering habit in Mexico. We all need to inform our fellow citizens about this issue but more importantly, we need to educate our senators and representatives of our interest in their support for legislation that promotes conservation of monarch habitats throughout North America.
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We have improved the update article index so that it is a little more useful. The main index page at
http://www.MonarchWatch.org/update
provides information about the updates in general (how to subscribe, what to expect, etc.) as well as easy access to the current year's updates, in reverse chronological order so that the most recent update is at the top of the list. This index includes the month and the article listing so that you can easily find the articles you are looking for.
You also have the option of viewing previous update listings by year or all years:
http://www.MonarchWatch.org/update/index_allyears.html
The "All Years" index is handy if you have an article topic in mind but you can't remember when it was posted - just visit that page and quickly scroll through the article topics or use your web browser's "find" feature to search for keywords within the article titles.
If you have any suggestions about this or other aspects of the updates and/or website in general please feel free to drop me a line anytime! - Jim (jlovett@ku.edu)
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3) Status of the Population
Throughout the late summer and fall all the signs have indicated that this migration is a small one and that the monarch population overwintering in Mexico this winter will be well below average. This is the case even though several observers in Texas have seen large numbers of monarchs (10s to 100s of thousands) in several locations close to the border. Mike Quinn, of Texas Parks and Wildlife, asks people throughout Texas to report sightings of monarchs and he notes the pattern of these reports and posts the accounts to the Monarch Watch email discussion list, Dplex-L. Many reports confirm that observers are seeing fewer monarchs this year and Mike has described the path of the migration through Texas this year as narrower than usual, again suggestive of a relatively small population. These low population estimates are also supported by the reports from Cape May where the Monarch Monitoring Project
http://www.concord.org/~dick/mmp02.html
is on a course to record the lowest number of monarchs during the migration in the 14 year history of the program. These observations are supported by the experiences of taggers whose reports indicate that the numbers of butterflies tagged this year have been lower than normal. Further, the number of tagged monarchs recovered within the United States is less than half the number we received by this time last year.
At this time of year, we receive many inquiries about late monarchs - "will they make it to Mexico" our correspondents want to know. We usually respond by saying, we don't know - it depends on the weather. I was reading the paper and half watching the news on the 13th of October when the weatherman came on. He droned on for a while and then displayed a graphic with the usual isobars for mean temperatures of the circulation and temperatures from the north pole to about 50 degrees north latitude. This graphic was unusual and it caught my attention so I listened. The point of the graphic was to illustrate that for the next three weeks the pattern of the polar and sub-polar circulation indicated that the weather for the next three weeks (through the first week of November) was likely to be mild. For monarchs, this forecast suggests that late monarchs from the northern, and middle states such as Kansas, might still be able to make it to Mexico. Actually, in recent years, this pattern has become the norm rather than the exception and most monarchs have been able to move south before killing frosts have eliminated the last larvae, pupae and adults. The timing of the migration is such that in northern states, and even in the lower Midwest, the majority of the population has moved south before killing frosts eliminate lingering monarchs. In the mid 1970s, long before I started Monarch Watch, we had a sharp cold front that dropped the temperatures into the teens for a week beginning at the end of September. The temperatures were so low that the Kansas River was frozen by the 4th of October. We can usually count on finding modest numbers of monarchs here until the 8th of October and some stragglers into late October and even November, so there is little doubt but that the late monarchs that year did not survive this early touch of winter. It would be interesting to go back through the old weather records to determine how often these early winters nip at the ends of the migration. It's possible that the long-range pattern of the progression of freezing weather in the fall might tell us how the timing of the migration has been shaped by selection.
Last month I reported that the timing and pattern of the migration was atypical, particularly with respect to eastern Kansas. The pattern has been more normal since late September and, in general, the movement of monarchs through Oklahoma and Texas has been in line with timing of the peak of the migration seen most years. If monarchs continue to move through northern Mexico, at the normal pace, the leading edge of the migration should arrive in the vicinity of the overwintering sites in the last few days of October, just in time for the Day of the Dead on the 1st and 2nd of November:
http://www.mexconnect.com/mex_/muertos.html
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4) Tag Recoveries
We are diligently working through tag recoveries and can use your help. We have discovered a small number of tags for which we have no distribution record (we do not know who received and/or used them) and no datasheet. The tags (from different years) in question are:
BJO553
BKN761
BKX212
CAF404
CIC460
CIC481
CIC496
CIC530
UO805
UU206
Please check your copy of your datasheets to see if any of these tags are yours. If so, (or if you can help us track down the tagger) please let us know - thanks!
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There are three items of interest concerning western monarch populations this month; the arrival of monarchs at overwintering sites in California, the last stretch drive to raise money for Ellwood Main, and the creation of a web resource for information on California monarchs.
Arrivals
Mia Monroe informed us that she had heard from observers situated at or near several monarch overwintering sites. The reports from Stinson Beach, Natural Bridges, Andrew Molera and Ellwood indicate that monarchs arrived early and appear to be abundant at these coastal sites! Some clustering was observed as well.
Ellwood Mesa
From Chris Lange, one of the leaders in the effort to raise funds to save the Ellwood Mesa, - "We learned that the "Save Ellwood Mesa" acquisition campaign IS in the final stretch; the California Coastal Commission has the applications now and any minute we should know when to stuff a van full of supporters to testify for the "land swap" --, probably in December or January. "As for the funding leg, we are still a "mere" million bucks away from the $20.4 m goal."
For the latest news story on the details associated with the land swap see:
http://www.ucsbdailynexus.com/news/2004/8060.html
For additional information visit the "Friends of the Ellwood Coast" website at
Website for California Monarchs
The Xerces Society has initiated a California Monarch Butterfly Conservation Campaign website. The mission of this campaign is to protect and assist with the management of the monarch overwintering sites in California. There is a brief description of the western migration, a mention of the treats to the overwintering sites, primarily development of valuable coastal properties, a list of conservation efforts and objectives, and a list of monarch overwintering sites accessible to the public.
To visit the site, go to http://www.xerces.org
To have your conservation or education efforts listed under the resource section, please send a short, two or three sentence summary of your project, along with appropriate contact information, via email to Mia Monroe, Xerces Society Monarch Campaign Coordinator at muirmia@aol.com.
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6) Pesticides Used on Pets and Monarch Rearing
I'll bet you haven't heard the word "imidacloprid" before. Would it surprise you to learn that you have probably been exposed it and that it may even be extensively distributed throughout your house? Imidacloprid is the main ingredient in numerous new insecticides with names such as Gaucho® to treat wheat seed; Provado® for tomatoes; Admire® for potatoes; Gurbex® for lawn grubs; Premise® for termites and ants; and Advantage® and K9 Advantix® for the control of fleas on cats and dogs. If you own a dog or a cat and have taken it to the vet, you probably know that Advantage® is one of the options for keeping your pets pest free. House pets treated with Advantage® are not only protected but they distribute enough of the pesticide throughout the house to inhibit the development of life stages of the pest such as eggs and immatures. When we are in close contact with treated pets, we are likely to disseminate the pesticide as well. The good news is that imidacloprid is relatively low in its toxicity to vertebrates, which is why it has proven to be suitable as a compound to use on pets and to introduce into our homes. Nevertheless, there are some cautions
http://www.pan-uk.org/pestnews/Actives/imidaclo.htm
since it may be toxic to pet fish under some circumstances and of course, it might affect those monarch caterpillars you've brought into the house, especially if you go directly from handling your pets to feeding your caterpillars. I'm bringing this to your attention because we have received reports of larvae dying from what appears to be pesticide poisoning (rapidly), rather than a pathogen, while under careful supervision by people who have reared monarchs for many years. More work is needed to establish whether there is a connection between imidacloprid and monarchs. This sounds like a science project for an ambitious student to me and, if anyone is interested, we would be glad to help.
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In late August, Cathy Schlegel, a staff member at the Minnesota Zoo, posted the following message to Dplex-L: "I had a Monarch emerge from its chrysalis yesterday that has no scales on its wings. Except for the veins, the wings are clear. The body is strange too. Head and thorax appear normal but the abdomen is black on the top and bottom and lime green on the sides. This butterfly is the offspring of two farm-raised Monarchs and was reared in a butterfly exhibit at a Zoo. Has anyone seen this before? The caterpillar and chrysalis must have been normal because they (zoo staff) didn't notice anything different until emergence."
A strange account indeed! I had never heard of a scaleless monarch or an adult Lepidoptera of any species in which the wings and body were totally scaleless. We requested that Cathy send photos and Nancy Greig, Director, of the Cockrell Butterfly Center, posted a request for photos on a list serve for zoos. We received two sets of photos, one from Steve Estebo, a zoologist at the Minnesota Zoo and another from Ed O'Brien, Assistant Curator, Zoo New England-Franklin Park, Boston.
Photos: http://www.MonarchWatch.org/update/2004/1022_scaleless_monarch.html
Ed offered the following observations; there were "4 monarchs that came out this way. One of them had normal hind wings and scaleless front wings! When they first eclosed, the wings had a yellowish tint to them but they also had the slightest pattern of the normal dark markings. As days passed, the markings got darker until they were quite noticeable. The photos are of an individual 4 days after eclosing. They were received from a vendor in Florida. They lived a few days but their wings were definitely weaker than a "normal" butterfly. They also made a sound when flying, similar to a (slow) dragonfly."
Further correspondence revealed that Steve Estebo had frozen one of the specimens, which he kindly loaned to us for a closer examination. I will report in more detail on this specimen in a forthcoming update.
Relative to other species that are studied intensely, monarchs show only a modest degree of variation. Hence, there is an interest in any deviation from the normal pattern such as this scaleless condition. There are a number of possible explanations. This phenotype, or form, could be due to exposure to some environmental condition at a sensitive stage or could be the result of a rare mutation that was revealed by inbreeding. Such mutations are known for monarchs, such as the white form nivosus
Photo: http://www.MonarchWatch.org/update/2004/1022_white_monarch.html
This form occurs naturally in Hawaii and one of the islands in the Vanuatu chain but more rarely in other populations. (As an aside, it's interesting that among the hundreds of millions of monarchs viewed by scientists, residents, and tourists at the overwintering sites in Mexico over the years that no one has reported seeing a white monarch.) A few years ago, as the result of inbreeding larvae with a dark phenotype, we encountered pupae that were orange in color rather than emerald green.
Photo: http://www.MonarchWatch.org/update/2004/1022_orange_pupa.html
(It turned out that this simple recessive mutation was not associated with larval or adult patterns, both of which were normal. In retrospect, the dark larvae selected for inbreeding were probably siblings.)
Additionally, David Marriott of the Monarch Program in San Diego has reported red-eyed monarchs and Karen Oberhauser and her students have described the inheritance of a larval color form but overall the number of variants in monarchs is low.
The possibility that the scaleless condition could be due to heat shock at a sensitive stage can't be discounted. One of the early fields of study in genetics became known as phenocopy genetics. Phenocopies are environmentally induced forms that mimic forms that have a genetic basis, although such forms may be rare in nature. Scientists discovered that butterfly or moth pupae subjected to short intervals of low or high temperatures when the pupae were at a specific developmental stage produced distinctive phenotypes (in this case wing patterns) only seen when these conditions prevailed. Different patterns could be produced at different developmental ages and durations of the heat shock. Scientists subsequently adopted Drosophila as the model organism for these studies and an apparent derivative of the conceptualization that heat stress can induce change is the study of heat shock proteins continues to this day (for more information on this topic visit the sites below)
http://zygote.swarthmore.edu/env5.html
http://www.antigenics.com/products/tech/hsp/
The larvae that produced the scaleless adults (3, two of which did not eclose properly) in Minnesota were reared in an aquarium covered with netting in a hoophouse. Under these conditions it is certainly possible that some of the pupae could be subjected to high temperatures for short periods. However, the fact that this form has shown up in two zoos, and it is almost certain the rearing conditions were different in the second, suggests that the trait is more likely to be genetic and less likely to be a reflection of environmental conditions.
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8) Monarchs in Spain
In September and October in most years, monarchs are seen in coastal areas in Ireland, England and sometimes France and Holland. These sightings often give rise to speculations as to the origins of these monarchs. Most of the speculation focuses on a North American origin with passing mention given to the possibility that the butterflies might also have originated from monarch populations established in the Canaries, Azores, or possibly Spain and Portugal. Unfortunately, little seems to be known about the distribution and abundance of monarchs and their host-plants in Southern Europe and the islands off the north west coast of Africa. A few years ago we received an email from a resident in Gibraltar indicating that monarchs are established on this small island and more recently an email arrived from Peter MacEwen indicating the presence of a monarch population in Spain some 15 miles east of Gibraltar. Excerpts from Peter's message follow. This is another case of "plant milkweeds and they will come":
"We have a local plant, which we call Spanish Flag because of the color of the flower, and research shows that this is the Tropical/Mexican Milkweed. I cannot say the butterflies have thrived, but they are established and seem to be increasing in number, maybe limited because there is not a great stock of these plants. Last year we collected a number of seeds and the plants were spread around our garden. ------ Now, our wildest dreams have been met and two mature plants, purchased to supply seed stock, are now covered with Monarch caterpillars happily stripping them of their leaves. There are over 30 in action as of today and a Monarch was back this afternoon laying more eggs. We expect other areas to follow suite. Our climate is O.K. on the temperature front, but we do get very heavy rain and the winters are inclined to be quite wet. In 'summer' we get at least 5 months of no rain at all. The Monarchs do not seem to feel any need to migrate to satisfy their instinct and remain all year round. The area is well wooded."
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9) Upcoming Monarch Events
For a complete up-to-date listing please visit the “Monarch Events” forum within our new online community forums:
http://www.MonarchWatch.org/forums/viewforum.php?f=20
If you know of other events that are not listed there, please let us know!
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10) New DVD on Butterflies and Skippers
Dick Walton, known to most of you who follow monarchs as one of the architects and coordinators of the Cape May Monarch Monitoring Project
http://www.concord.org/~dick/mmp02.html
recently sent us a copy of new DVD designed to introduce beginners to butterflies and skippers.
The DVD, produced by Dick Walton and Greg Dodge as "Brownbag Productions", is titled "Common Butterflies and Skippers of Eastern North America". The digital videography is excellent and each species is represented by clear images as it forages for nectar, water or liquids or just rests on the vegetation or the ground. Given that images are close-ups and you can see the specimens from a variety of angles it is probably easier to learn to recognize each species on sight through this medium than with a book. A companion book on the other hand will be of value since it can provide details on host-plants, distributions, habitats and seasonality knowledge of which makes the study of butterflies even more interesting. The DVD also includes a section on the monarch migration as viewed from Cape May. This section is brief and only tells part of the story but it does provide a sense of the Cape may habitat and the difficulty monarchs encounter when their course funnels them to the end of a peninsula.
For more information or to order a copy please visit
http://shop.monarchwatch.org/product.aspx?p=109053
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