photo by Jim Lovett
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Contents:
2) Monarch Tags
3) Temperature Monitoring Program
5) Wanted: Orange Monarch Pupae
6) Degree Days
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Unless otherwise noted, all content was authored by Chip Taylor, edited by Jim Lovett, and Ann Ryan and published by Jim Lovett.
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Are you ready for a large migration? The migration this year should be the largest seen since 2001 and the overwintering numbers could be the highest seen since 1995-96 and 1996-97. The development of the monarch population this season has been spectacular. Among the key factors important for the build up to the fall migration is the reproductive success of the butterflies returning to the southern states from Mexico. This year the number of the first generation butterflies produced in the southern states appears to have been unusually high, the best since 2001. In May and early June these first generation butterflies returned to the northern breeding grounds in extraordinary numbers. This return migration was so strong that all areas of the northern breeding grounds, with the possible exception of New England, eastern Ohio and parts of Pennsylvania and New York, were well populated by breeding monarchs in mid-June. The number of monarchs moving north, combined with excellent weather conditions, has resulted in reports of monarchs from as far west and north as Edmonton, Alberta to Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island in the Maritimes in the east. As these first generation monarchs reached the northern areas they encountered favorable weather and excellent breeding conditions resulting in a large second generation that should in turn produce even larger third and fourth generations. Those of you tagging at the northern limit of monarchs and milkweeds (48-50 N) will be tagging third generation monarchs. The rest of you will be tagging third and fourth generation monarchs unless you live in Kansas and Missouri where we are on schedule to have a fifth generation complete development during the migration.
Normal to slightly above normal temperatures and rainfall are forecast for the monarch breeding area for the remainder of the summer. The prospects for extreme cold, hot or dry conditions that could limit the growth of the monarch populations appear to be slim at this time (mid July) – so, an abundance of fall monarchs are expected.
The one dark cloud for the fall is the drought that extends from the lower Midwest through Oklahoma and Texas. In these two states, extremely dry conditions are expected to prevail through September and October. Such dry conditions could prove to be a hazard for migratory monarchs that need sources of water and nectar as they migrate.
On the brighter side are the fall temperatures. The forecast calls for above normal and normal temperatures throughout the fall for all areas occupied by the monarch population. A delay in cool weather and frosts should allow many of the late monarchs to reach Mexico.
For information on the midpoint of the migration that corresponds to your latitude, see “Peak Migration Dates” at
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This season's tags are going fast! We are assembling the kits and mailing them out as quickly as we can. If you haven't ordered your tags for this year yet please do so now so you don't miss out!
Tagging Kits are available via the Monarch Watch Shop at
shop.monarchwatch.org/category.aspx?c=tagging_kits
or by calling 1-800-780-9986.
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3) Temperature Monitoring Program
We are now entering the beta testing phase of our new Temperature Monitoring Program. We have invited 50 Monarch Watchers across North America to receive prototype kits and participate in this testing; however, we invite everyone to join in discussions as we flesh out the program and work out all of the kinks. If you have questions, suggestions, or comments along the way please let us know via the new "Temperature Monitoring Program" forum within the Monarch Watch community forums at
Please take a moment to register and then join in the fun!
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I hope everyone is enjoying their Monarch Waystations as much as I’m enjoying ours. The Monarch Watch offices are in a single story building on West Campus here at the University of Kansas. Adjacent to the building is a plot of land, once the site of a set of experimental ponds, which had been allowed to grow back to grasses and then trees and shrubs. Long before we moved into the building I obtained permission to build a small hoop house 80’ southwest of the building. Sometime later I started planting milkweeds and nectar plants to the west of the hoop house that we named “The Biohouse” (a.k.a the house that Jim built) for all the creatures we displayed in the facility. But, sadly I’m not the gardener I should be and the students I hired to assist me also lacked the necessary green thumbs. The result was a haphazard patch that was more weeds than milkweeds or other useful plants.
Three years ago the Douglas County Master Gardeners came to our rescue. They created a layout for the garden and came in as team to lay down old carpets and newspapers for the pathways. The carpets were covered with wood chips and the planting began. Most of the planting was done by Margarete Johnson, a devoted gardener, who has a great deal of knowledge of plants and their requirements. Margarete isn’t one to complain but I eventually learned that she was having a great deal of difficulty getting plants established. It seemed that as fast as she planted young plants they were disappearing – often overnight. It soon became apparent that there were at least two creatures that appreciated all the good fare that Margarete was providing. First we removed a family of wood rats (Neotoma) to a better home – a rock wall on my property in the country. Next we needed to find a solution for the bunnies and there were lots of them. The answer to the bunny problem was relatively simple and only cost about $180. Margarete, together with her friend Mary Olson and Mary’s helpers, surrounded the garden with 18 inch chicken wire. The fence isn’t ideal from an aesthetic point of view but it sure is effective. The garden is now lush with growth and once planted, the plants are staying put rather than hopping off in the jaws of some bunny.
I visit the garden two or three times a day. I usually visit the garden first thing in the morning then later in the day when I need a break and usually just before I go home. This is a bad year for butterflies, although monarchs can be spotted on most days, but I marvel at the large numbers and diversity of the bees visiting the various mints and composites. Even though the garden is a relatively small patch, it attracts an abundance of birds. Goldfinches are common and I’ve seen as many as 6 pairs working the Verbena bonairiensis and fennel for seeds, soon they will be harvesting seeds from sunflowers and other composites. Robins and brown thrashers are common too as are a number of other little brown birds whose identity has thus far escaped me. Yesterday I spied one of those little brown birds (You can tell I’m not a birder can’t you?) doing something that puzzles me. I had noted that the most of the Sedum spectabile in the garden had chunks taken out of their terminal leaves. The damage looked to be caused by grasshoppers or beetles although none were evident – but you guessed it – it was one of those little brown birds. (I really have to get out my bird book and binoculars). But, what was is it doing by nibbling at the fleshy leaves of the sedum? Surely, the bird is an insectivore rather than a herbivore - another mystery that I will have to investigate a bit further. Each day I find something new in the garden. I think I’ll take a break and go out there again. Enjoy your Monarch Waystation!
Here are some photos of Monarch Waystation #1:
www.MonarchWatch.org/update/2006/waystation_photos/index.html
Complete information about the Monarch Waystation Program is available at
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5) Wanted: Orange Monarch Pupae
If you have copies of the old Season Summaries (also available as PDF files), in Volume 8 (1999) you will find an interesting story on page 50-51 about the discovery of orange/pale monarch pupae:
photo by Jim Lovett
As far as I could discern, this was the first time such a form had been seen in monarchs although similar pupal color polymorphisms are known for both the Queen, Danaus gilippus, and the African and Asian Plain Tiger, Danaus chrysippus. Students working in my lab made a number of crosses to determine how the orange/pale phenotype was inherited. Although the balance of evidence indicated that the orange form was recessive to the normal green phenotype, many of the crosses showed deficiencies in heterozygotes. Greater mortality of heterozygotes, if true, would provide a partial explanation as to the rarity of the orange form in the wild. Unfortunately, we lost the orange pupa stock before we could complete all the genetic tests so we are still not sure of the genetic basis for this phenotype. We would like to complete these tests. In addition, we would like to learn more about the basis for this unusual color since it implies that the genetic factor involved controls the expression of the pigments in the hemolymph or blood of the pupa. So, we’ve been on the lookout for these pupae hoping to find another one – we just need one healthy orange pupa – to get another crack at the questions associated with this form. For six years there was no word of further encounters with orange/pale pupae until we received an email from Wanda and Chuck Sirmans of Brookshire Texas, just west of the Houston-Katy area. In early September 2005 Wanda wrote:
“I have a number of monarch crysalises, however, one of them is almost a clear white and not green. Is this common? We are keeping an eye on it just to see what emerges. It looks the same as the others, with the gold specs, and same form, just almost a clear white color. We are puzzled, could it be an albino monarch and is there such? Please let us know.”
An exchange of emails followed in which I informed the Sirmans of the earlier study and the value of their find. Unfortunately, the pupa changed color and died before Wanda could take pictures so we are not sure that the Sirmans’ pupa was the same form as in the earlier study. Then in April Lyril from Australia posted the following note in the Monarch Watch Forums:
“It is getting pretty cold here in southern Australia now, but I have about 150 pupae inside, innumerable caterpillars and butterflies still laying. All doomed, I guess, but I've found some odd things: One new chrysalis, perfect in form, but a lovely pale gold in colour, - almost translucent. I didn't see the cat that formed it, but apart from colour it seems perfect. Has anyone seen an albino (or bloodless) pupa?”
from http://www.monarchwatch.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=408
Again, no image but it sounds like Lyril also encountered an orange/pale pupal color form.
If anyone encounters a whitish, pale, light orange to pinkish monarch pupa, please first take pictures and then contact us about how to breed the resulting butterfly so as to retain the mutation for scientific study. We would be glad to publish your images and give you credit for your discovery. I’m not sure if it is relevant or related but the first orange pupae were reared from matings of adults that emerged from larvae that were unusually black. The black larvae were probably siblings and more than one was a carrier for the orange pupa gene.
photo by Jim Lovett
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Once again we will follow the monarch degree days through the season for five cities from Dallas to Winnipeg (Table 1) to get a sense of the environment experienced by monarchs in different regions and to be able to compare one season with another.
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. Dividing the accumulated degree days by 720 for each site gives us a way of estimating the number of monarch generations at different latitudes. 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. We are using a “modified averaging method” for calculating degree days. This method is the one most commonly used to predict the development of organisms.
Table 1. Degree Days (F) – Running totals starting on average, or observed, dates of first monarch arrivals in each city*.
Date Dallas Lawrence Des Moines St. Paul Winnipeg 27-Mar
13.3
28-Mar
25.6
29-Mar
37.9
30-Mar
59.7
31-Mar
85
1-Apr
107.3
2-Apr
134.6
3-Apr
153.4
4-Apr
167.2
5-Apr
189.5
6-Apr
211.8
7-Apr
230.6
8-Apr
241.4
9-Apr
250.2
10-Apr
265
11-Apr
283.3
12-Apr
304.6
13-Apr
325.9
14-Apr
348.2
15-Apr
374
48.2
16-Apr
401.5
61.25
17-Apr
430
71.6
18-Apr
459
89.6
19-Apr
481.3
99.05
20-Apr
495.6
108.5
21-Apr
513.9
121.55
22-Apr
534.7
135.5
23-Apr
560
149.9
24-Apr
585.3
159.8
25-Apr
597.6
164.75
26-Apr
607.25
165.2
27-Apr
619.9
173.75
28-Apr
635.7
177.8
29-Apr
650.5
182.3
30-Apr
668.3
189.95
1-May
693.1
197.6
2-May
720.9
210.65
3-May
745.7
220.55
4-May
769
225.05
5-May
786.8
230
6-May
803.6
233.15
6.15
7-May
818.4
238.1
14.8
8-May
839.2
248.45
26.1
9-May
867.7
261.95
41.9
10-May
886
266
49.55
11-May
899.3
270.95
51.7
12-May
917.1
279.5
59.85
13-May
942.4
288.05
59.85
14-May
968.2
292.1
63.5
15-May
983
299.75
71.15
16-May
999.3
309.2
81.95
17-May
1017.1
323.15
95.6
18-May
1041.6
336.2
105.75
19-May
1069.6
358.7
122.9
20-May
1097.6
372.2
134.7
21-May
1124.9
387.5
143
22-May
1153.7
404.6
154.65
9.65
23-May
1182.5
428
172.45
25.95
24-May
1211.8
451.4
193.75
47.75
25-May
1241.3
470.3
215.05
67.05
26-May
1271.6
489.2
232.85
85.85
27-May
1302.1
513.5
256.15
110.15
28-May
1331.9
542.3
284.45
140.65
29-May
1360.2
570.2
310.75
170.65
30-May
1388.5
591.8
330.55
191.95
9.3
31-May
1416.8
612.5
351.85
212.75
20.45
1-Jun
1444.6
631.4
372.15
232.05
31.6
2-Jun
1472.9
649.4
391.95
251.35
46.25
3-Jun
1499.7
666.5
414.75
271.15
66.55
4-Jun
1528.7
684.5
436.55
293.45
83.35
5-Jun
1559.2
702.5
456.85
317.25
97.65
6-Jun
1589.7
728.6
483.35
339.05
110.95
7-Jun
1619.2
748.4
508.15
362.35
120.1
8-Jun
1646.7
772.7
539.95
382.15
123.25
9-Jun
1677.2
797
565.25
390.3
129.05
10-Jun
1707.7
824
576.05
395.45
137.35
11-Jun
1738.2
843.8
582.35
402.75
146.5
12-Jun
1768.7
859.1
600.15
414.4
159.8
13-Jun
1800.2
873.5
624.95
433.7
170.95
14-Jun
1828.7
893.3
652.25
452.5
184.6
15-Jun
1856.7
919.4
679.55
475.3
202.9
16-Jun
1888.2
947.3
714.05
500.1
226.2
17-Jun
1916.2
968.9
743.85
523.9
245.5
18-Jun
1944.2
990.5
776.15
546.2
259.8
19-Jun
1973.2
1015.7
805.45
564
274.45
20-Jun
2001.7
1044.5
834.75
579.8
290.25
21-Jun 2031.7 936.85 863.05 601.1 300.4 22-Jun 2063.7 957.15 884.85 620.4 310.55 23-Jun 2095.5 978.95 907.65 639.2 322.7 24-Jun 2126 1001.25 926.95 656.5 333.85 25-Jun 2155.5 1019.05 941.75 673.8 347.5 26-Jun 2182.8 1035.85 958.05 690.1 358.65 27-Jun 2207.3 1054.15 977.85 702.9 369.8 28-Jun 2234.3 1074.65 995.15 719.2 383.45 29-Jun 2262.3 1099.15 1016.45 737.5 403.25 30-Jun 2290.8 1127.15 1040.25 763.3 425.55 1-July 2320.3 1155.15 1070.75 790.6 444.85 2-July 2349.8 1183.15 1096.55 817.4 460.65 3-July 2380.3 1211.65 1122.35 843.7 470.8 4-July 2410.3 1235.95 1142.65 862 483.45 5-July 2440.3 1255.25 1158.45 880.8 498.1 6-July 2470.3 1272.05 1175.75 901.6 520.9 7-July 2497.3 1291.35 1195.05 925.9 546.7 8-July 2525.8 1311.65 1215.85 954.2 564.5 9-July 2556.8 1333.45 1240.85 977.5 571.15 10-July 2588.3 1355.75 1262.15 996.8 584.8 11-July 2620.3 1384.05 1287.45 1022.1 607.6 12-July 2652.3 1411.35 1311.25 1048.9 630.1 13-July 2684.8 1439.85 1338.25 1076.9 654.9 14-July 2717.3 1467.35 1362.55 1103.4 677.7 15-July 2750.3 1494.35 1391.55 1132.4 699.5 16-July 2783.8 1522.35 1421.05 1164.4 721 17-July 2818.3 1553.85 1452.55 1193.9 734.8 18-July 2852.3 1585.35 1480.05 1217.2 753.6 19-July 2885.3 1615.85 1509.05 1237 771.9 20-July 2918.3 1649.85 1537.35 1262.8 785.7 21-July 2951.3 1670.15 1558.15 1283.6 803.5 22-July 2985.3 1689.95 1579.45 1305.9 821.8 23-July 3015.8 1711.75 1604.25 1332.2 848.8 24-July 3045.8 1735.25 1632.05 1360.7 865.95 25-July 3076.3 1763.75 1659.35 1387.5 883.75
*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, Lawrence, KS 38:57:46N 95:15:19W, Dallas, TX 32:47:39N 96:45:55W.
Table 2. Monarch degree day totals and potential number of generations through 25 July for 2003-2006.
Year Dallas Lawrence Des Moines St. Paul Winnipeg 2003 2827.35/3.9 1691.25/2.3
1386.2/1.9
999.9/1.4
707.7/1.0
2004 2788.9/3.9
1712.8/2.4
1346.6/1.9
940.85/1.3
566.65/0.8
2005 2956.1/4.1
1816.2/2.5
1585.9/2.2
1265.1/1.8
783/1.1
2006 3076.3/4.3 1763.75/2.4 1659.35/2.3 1387.5/1.9 883.75/1.2
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Late last fall I received an invitation to iChat (videoconference) from Bryan Osborne of Peterson Middle School of Santa Clara, California. Bryan introduced himself as the instructor of a computer course for 7th and 8th grade students. Bryan mentioned that his students were engaged in a monarch project, one in which they were attempting to create a habitat for monarchs – a Monarch Waystation. Wow! Since this project fit well with our goal of creating habitats for monarchs, I was anxious to learn more about the project. In most of the iChat sessions I start by asking questions of the students as a way of learning more about their school and how well the students are prepared. Then the students ask questions of me, mostly about monarchs. In an email after the iChat, Bryan indicated some disappointment and thought his students could have asked more questions. He obviously expects a lot from his students but from my perspective of a number of iChats with students of various ages, I thought his students were well prepared and asked great questions. It has to be hard for students to ask questions of an expert whose image is projected on a screen in their classroom. It reminds me of that wonderful scene in the Wizard of OZ in which Dorothy and her companions seek advice in a timorous manner from the image of The Great and Powerful OZ – that is until the curtain fell away revealing the OZ for the fraud that he was. Then, as you will recall, Dorothy becomes indignant, yet more confident, as she berates her tormentor. A stammering OZ makes a recovery of sorts by assuring Dorothy and her friends that they have the talents and resources to solve their own problems and they really don’t need his advice. Well, I don’t mean to suggest that I assume the role of The Great and Powerful OZ in these iChats, even if I am from Kansas. However, it is clear from the iChats that students gain a great deal of confidence from these sessions. They ask serious questions of their own making of an expert who treats them as he would an adult asking the same questions.
For more information on iChat please see www.monarchwatch.org/ichat/
The iChat session and other conversations with Bryan indicated that the students were engaged in an ambitious program to create a monarch habitat from scratch. Milkweed seeds were collected, stratified, planted, seedlings were transplanted, and eventually planted in a natural area on the school grounds. But, the milkweeds were not just planted, the students were challenged to conduct research on the best sites for the milkweeds. Because this was a computer class students were encouraged to create web sites describing their project from beginning to end. Here are a few of these web sites. You can see that the students used a variety of approaches to describe their project.
http://www1.peterson.scu.k12.ca.us/~jyim/monarchpresentation.htm
http://www1.peterson.scu.k12.ca.us/~babad/index.html
http://www1.peterson.scu.k12.ca.us/~awillis/key.html
http://www1.peterson.scu.k12.ca.us/~smartone742/index3.html
That Bryan has a passion for teaching computer technology along with natural history and science has become clear in our several discussions. Yet, Bryan has been low key about his accomplishments. I did a bit of Googling and I found several links that describe Bryan’s desire to introduce his students to the latest in technology while engaging them in biological studies. As you will see, not only was Bryan instrumental in creating a natural area at his school but he has made it a teaching center as well.
http://www.ncsu.edu/meridian/jan98/feat_2/lrntech.html
http://www.macworld.com/news/2001/06/13/timbuktu/index.php
Here is a video production of Bryan Osborne’s Computer ll students and their milkweed habitat project:
8.7MB QuickTime Movie (5:36) - QuickTime 7 required; download it here.
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Monarch Watch is a not-for-profit educational outreach program based at the University of Kansas. We manage several educational, conservation and research programs - focusing on the monarch butterfly, its habitat and the spectacular fall monarch migration.
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