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Where have all the monarchs gone?

Posted on August 12th, 2008 – 8:38 AM
By Jaime Chismar

monarch.jpg

From GG reader Robin:

Can you ask your readers if they are noticing fewer monarchs in their gardens?  I have a butterfly garden with lots of swamp milkweed, that normally would have two or three caterpillars per plant.  This year, I have only seen 2 caterpillars and that was 3 weeks ago on a pasture milkweed plant.
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Thanks,
Robin

My milkweed has a suspicious lack of butterflies this year, too. Have you noticed a decline in butterflies in your garden?

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 12th, 2008 at 8:38 am and is filed under Critters + vermin. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

10 Responses to "Where have all the monarchs gone?"

Rebecca says:

August 12th, 2008 at 9:14 am

I have a nice milkweed plant in my garden that last month had 12 caterpillars at once on it! I was entranced. But, suddenly they were all gone and I haven’t seen a caterpillar or butterfly in my garden since.
A few years ago I would spot at least one, and usually numerous, butterflies in my front flower bed every night. This year- none. It’s very sad.

Kristine says:

August 12th, 2008 at 9:45 am

I have noticed this as well. My milkweed has had caterpillars but not as many and I have not seen any yellow swallowtail butterflies which are my favorite. Is it possible that the invasion of the Japanese Beetles have affected the butterflies? My garden has been bombarded by these yucky bugs that are eating through everything. I also don’t seem to have many ladybugs this year. What is going on??

Connie Nelson says:

August 12th, 2008 at 5:42 pm

I haven’t noticed any decline in monarchs, but since I don’t have any milkweed or butterfly bush in my yard, I decided might not be the best judge, so I called a pro — Jeff Hahn, an entomologist with the U of M extension service. Jeff said that there was no evidence of a decline in the numbers of monarchs this year. He also said that it can be difficult to accurately track them. So . . . stay tuned.

Jan says:

August 12th, 2008 at 8:18 pm

Saturday I found a Western Tiger Swallowtail butterfly enjoying my zinnias. Why aren’t they interested in the fragrance of my Oriental Stargazer lillies that are open? I’ve had one or two Monarchs but mostly plain whitish-yellow butterflies. Dragonflies are in great abundance in my yard. We back up to a wetland. I did see a Monarch in the middle of White Bear Lake as we were sailing by!

Mary Schier says:

August 12th, 2008 at 8:37 pm

I have not seen many monarchs either, but have just noticed any butterflies at all in the past couple of weeks. We usually get quite a few. Perhaps they are just a bit tardy this year due to the cold?

Kathy says:

August 12th, 2008 at 10:15 pm

We always seem to have mourning cloak butterflies and just this past Saturday I saw a yellow tiger swallowtail, a monarch and one of the little white butterflies all in my south Minneapolis backyard. I think one of my neighbors has milkweek growing in their alley, but I’m not sure. This odd little plant has a seed pod that kinda looks like a cucumber. Is that milkweed?

Thanks!

Jaime Chismar says:

August 13th, 2008 at 9:35 am

Is the pod light green, kind of fuzzy or spiky? If so, your neighbor is growing milkweed!

Kathy says:

August 13th, 2008 at 8:32 pm

Jaime - Yes, they are light green, sorta crescent/paisley shaped with little hooked spikes. When it flowered it was a fairly large bunch of little flowers, creamy white to medium pink in heavy clusters like a cluster of berries. Do you know which type of milkweed this is? Thanks!

Robyn Dochterman says:

August 14th, 2008 at 11:34 am

I planted a variety of bee and butterfly friendly flowers in my yard this year and have been pleased to see monarchs often. Especially gratifying was to see the monarch on a zinnia I grew from seed. There is also milkweed in ditches nearby, so that makes quite a bit of difference, too.

Lorika says:

August 14th, 2008 at 12:44 pm

I have had more Monarchs this year - but then I check plants for eggs and caterpillars int he spring and bring some in to raise in a jar. I raised 5 this year, I think. I also suspect that if you have a lot of ants on your milkweed that they kill the baby caterpillars so they can farm their aphids on the plant. Yes - ants farm aphids. Great huh?

I also saw lots of those red Milkweed Beetles this year and it seemed that some plants that had a caterpillar a couple days later did not. I know that the Monarchs lay quite a few eggs, but only a few make it to adulthood. That is one reason why I raise them. I also do it because I am still a little kid at heart and I love the thrill.

We had lots o Mourning Cloaks on the Milkweed earlier and no Swallowtails to speak of - though I’ve seen some about elsewhere.

Here’s the last Monarch:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lorika/2757954353/in/photostream/

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