Thu 27 Aug 2009
Monarch butterflies begin migration!
Posted by Nicole under Fun and Games, Habitat Restoration, Loudoun Wildlife
[4] Comments
The Journey South has begun! On August 21, Monarch Watch and an organization called Journey North started getting reports of Monarch butterflies congregating in overnight roosts. This is a sign that the migration to Mexico has started!
The Monarchs that we see now are the last generation of the season. They will fly over 2,000 miles to a very special mountain area in Angangueo, Mexico (just outside of Mexico City). They will rest there through the winter, hunkered down, holding onto the branches of a special pine tree called the Oyamel. They’ll make short flights to nearby mountain streams but otherwise will rest through the winter to conserve their energy for the great journey back next spring.
A fun activity to do this time of year is to watch and report your Monarch sightings: http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/monarch/FallWatch.html
We also have a couple of programs coming up this fall to learn more about Monarch butterflies:
The first is a family program called The Mysteries of Monarch Migration. For this program, we’ll watch a great movie (45 minutes) on Monarch migration and talk about what Monarch butterflies need to thrive. While Monarchs are not an endangered species, their great migration is considered an endangered phenomena because of the habitat loss occurring here and in Mexico. Registration is requested (although not required) so we can have enough handouts and other materials for everyone.
The second is designed for kids, it’s our Journey South Workshop. We’ll see a short video and talk about the Monarch lifecycle and the great migration and then make some monarch butterflies that we’ll send (in a symbolic migration) to the children who live in Angangueo, Mexico. The children in Angangueo will care for our Monarchs through the winter and then send them back to us in the Spring when we’ll have a follow-up program. You can sign up for this program on our website. It’s free but we need to limit the size of the class.
At this moment we have 5 med./large Monarch caterpillars in a terrarium on or deck, and one that Phil spied in the garden, all happily munching on milkweed. One just today began the upside down hanging, and the others are just about big enough to do so, too. The eggs must have come on the swamp milkweed plant we won at the Master Naturalist Picnic or been laid on it here in our yard,for about a week ago we spied 10 small caterpillars, almost totally eating up the plant. We talked them into transferring over to stalks of the common milkweed, and now the first 5 have gone off to hunt a good place for their chrysalis stage already.
That’s great Ellie! Keep that milkweed growing
You’ll likely see caterpillars through September, with the last monarchs of the year emerging from chrysalides in early October
I live in Bowdoinham Maine and I have noticed a huge decrease in the monarch caterpillar and monarch butterfly this summer. I usually see the butterflies during the summer and collect the caterpillars in late Aug-early Sept. However, this year, I have not seen any caterpillars. I am very upset. My oldest son and I use to collect the caterpillar until they turn into butterflies every year. My son past away last year and I really want to continue our tradition of raising the butterfly. But I just can’t find any. Is there a reason why the Monarch is not around?
Hi Carolyn,
Definitely check out the Journey North website: http://www.learner.org/jnorth/monarch/ They have a map that shows where the monarch sightings are during migration. It’s all entered by citizens who make a sighting and report it. There may be others in your area who have been watching the monarchs. Here in Virginia the monarchs seemed late. It may be due to the drought in Texas in the spring which limited the number of monarchs in the first generation. It’s all connected.