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Our season started 4/7/10 with the swamp milkweed sprouting from last year. Because of the losses during the harsh Mexican winter, we did not expect to see many monarchs. However, that has not proved to be the case. I planted lots of milkweed and the monarchs have found it!
This year’s study investigates which milkweeds the monarchs prefer and which milkweeds grow the best in our yard. Last year we have noticed they seem to like tropical milkweed. I have read that someone referred to it as candy for monarchs and suggested it be banned from some of the Southern states as it may interfere with migration. It may take a year or 2 to find our which milkweeds grow best. Still, we should be able to draw some general conclusions by the end of the summer.
As in 2009, before each butterfly is released, we are checking it for Oe using a Celestron 44340 microscope. We are using the tape method as shown on the Testing page of the Monarch Parasite website. I afix the monarch tape print to a glass slide. This year I will move the tape to an index card and send it to this group for their records.
I keep all of our data on spreadsheets. As each monarch is released or dies, I enter the data on the sheets and on the Monarch Larva Monitoring Project (MLMP) website, which is one of a handful of monitoring projects that monarch enthusiasts can be involved in to aid research. This year we are also monitoring the milkweed in our yard. Below you will find links so you can view my monarch and milkweed spreadsheets.
1st Milkweed sighting: 4/7/10 I found the swamp milkweed growing in our yard.
1st Milkweed blooming: 5/30/10 The common milkweed started to bloom locally. A few days later the poke and butterfly milkweeds were blooming in my yard.
1st Monarch Butterfly sighting: 5/5/10 I almost ran over one while mountain biking at Valley Forge. The 1st siting in our yard was 6/26/10.
1st Monarch Egg or Larva sighting: 6/20/10 We found the first egg at Valley Forge. The 1st eggs in our yard were found 6/26/10.
Size: ½ acre. Type: suburban gardens and lawn. Sun and shade. Planting zone 6.
Throughout my gardens you will find hostas of various types (Sum and Substance is my favorite), lily of the valley, chameleon plant (highly invasive - watch where you plant this one), evening primrose (the bright yellow flowers in the photos below, which bloom the first 2 weeks of June), treefoil, daylilies, rudebeckia, roses, bleeding hearts, iris, rose of sharon, bee balm, azaleas, lemon balm, coneflowers and others. Wild plants that came with our property that I have encouraged in my gardens include ajuga, Virginia bluebells, sensitive ferns, jack-in-the-pulpit, touch-me-nots, and violets. For the most part, we let biodiversity rule in respect to the lawn. I only remove thistles and poison ivy (Joel and Shane are very allergic to poison ivy). Sometimes we treat it with lime, so the moss does not take over too much. To see photos of each garden where milkweed is planted, go to the Valerie’s Gardens page.
Data for this site is submitted to the MLMP website and you can check it out: Valerie’s Garden at MLMP.
In addition to the 4 types of milkweed we had last year, we introduced some different varieties to the yard to see which the butterflies like and which grow best in our yard. We now have over 350 plants including 26 species and subspecies. Tropical milkweed and goose milkweed are the only tender perennials (our winters are too cold) in our yard that we have to bring in doors as plants or cuttings for the winter. As I get photos of them, they will be added to the Milkweed page. This year monitored our milkweed for MLMP (project 4A only - I started to do 4B, but I did not have time to do it). You can view the Excel sheets that I use to collect the milkweed characteristics for MLMP: Milkweed Study 2010
Excel Viewer Download If you do not have Excel, but wish to view the spreadsheets, you can download this free viewer from Microsoft.
Instead of posting an extensive data summary on this website for 2010, you can view my Excel sheet: Monarch Study 2010 When I upload revised Excel sheets, I will post a notice on Facebook and Twitter. The spreadsheets are set up to collect data for MLMP and Monarch Watch tagging. If you are not savvy with Excel, note that there are different tabs at the bottom to click on for different worksheets. Much of this data will be submitted to the MLMP website and you can check it out under the above links for each site. If you wish to copy the format of my Excel sheets for your own monarch monitoring, feel free to do so. There is also a tab for other insects that we have collected and raised.
Excel Viewer Download If you do not have Excel, but wish to view the spreadsheets, you can download this free viewer from Microsoft.
Below are a few key notes of interest:
Number of Eggs Collected: 194
Number of Larvae Collected: 118
Number of Butterflies Released: 99
Monarchs are tagged starting in August when the golden rod blooms. Apparently, the changes in temperature cause changes in their body structure and the ones born at the end of the summer are the ones that will migrate south. Unfortunately, we did not get to use all of our tags.
The tags we used are numbered: NBN-100 through NBN-299
| Reared and Released: Total Tagged | Catch and Release: Total Tagged |
Total Tagged |
| 77 | 10 | 87 |
While our monarch success rate was only 32% for this year, which is lower than the previous 2 years, we learned a great deal about different butterfly pathogens and I was able to add many new photos to the Monarch Disease and Parasite page. Since only 10% of eggs make it to butterflies in nature, we still consider this year successful. The new milkweed garden was an instant hit with the monarchs and made monitoring much easier than having to travel to other locations. Since it was added mid-season, we do not have a full season of data to base our conclusions on. However, we can in general state that they ignored the one redring (A. variegata) and barely touched the butterfly weed (A. tuberosa). Swamp (A. incarnata), tropical (A. curassavica), and poke (A. exaltata) were very popular. Hopefully some of our new milkweeds will bloom next year so I can post more photos on the Milkweed page.