Subject: Monarch Status Update

From: [email-masked] (Christopher Majka)
Date: 29 Mar 96 10:15:52 -0400

This morning the CBC here carried an interview with correspondent Elizabeth
Palmer in Mexico city. She has been up the the overwintering sites of
Monarchs (Danaus plexippus) and has been speaking with Lincoln Brower
and his students who are monitoring populations there.

The good news is that (contrary to previous reports) only some 7% of the
population (as compared to earlier reports of 50%) appear to have died
>from  the cold snap there this winter. Many supposedly 'dead' butterflies
were mearly torpid. Brower feels that the fact they were lying on the ground
means they were blown off the trees. It seems that continuing logging in
nearby areas is allowing more wind to penetrate the canopy of the forest
and the consequences of this are that butterflies can be more easily dislodged
>from  their perches.

In any event this 7% mortality is in addition to the normal 10-12% winter
mortality there so that 80%+ of the butterflies have survived. Last year
numbers of Monarchs overwintering in Mexico were apparently up about 20%
to 120 million so that circa 100 million butterfles survived. Of these 
approximately 80% have left for northward migration and the 'front' of the 
butterflies is, according to reports, just approaching the Mexican-US frontier.

All the best!

Christopher Majka
_._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._.

Christopher Majka             Internet: <[email-masked]>
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada            <[email-masked]>
Electronic Resources on Lepidoptera Website: URL = http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/~aa051/lepidoptera.html

The caterpillar on the leaf, repeats to thee thy mother's grief.
Kill not the moth nor butterfly, for the Last Judgement draweth nigh.
					-- WILLIAM BLAKE 1757-1827
_._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._.

---

From: Dale Clark <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 29 Mar 1996 20:15:06 -0500

Christopher Majka quotes correspondent Elizabeth Palmer of the CBC that the
overwintering Monarchs are "just approaching the Mexican-US frontier."
 Actually, they are much further north than that.  I've been seeing them here
in the Dallas, Texas area (North Texas) since last weekend (March 23rd).

Dale Clark

---

From: [email-masked]
Date: 31 Mar 1996 14:51:57 GMT

> in the Dallas, Texas area (North Texas) since last weekend (March 23rd).

Actually, I may have been a little sloppy in my wording. What I believe
ELizabeth Palmer said was something to the effect that reports put them in
the vicinity of the US-Mexican border as of March 28. Obviously in some
areas they might be north or south of the border area. It is interesting
to hear that as of March 23 they were as far as Dallas (circa 450 km North
of the Mexican border). 

Cheers!

Christopher Majka
--
| Christopher Majka - Editor: Culture, Religion & Heritage: Chebucto     |
| Community Net -- Internet: <[email-masked]> & <[email-masked]> |
| Home Page: URL = http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/~aa051/Profile.html         |