Have we lost our Monarchs as well?

Is anyone else noticing the same sobering thing ? It's now almost in to August, and I have not found a single Monarch caterpillar on any of my growing milkweed. I own 150 acres, and I purposely leave milkweed for the butterflies when I bush hog. I intentionally searched all the milkweed yesterday - not one single caterpillar. No adults either. The couple I thought I saw were Viceroys. Makes me sick. We've already lost our bats, our native bees, most of our frogs, and most of our aerial insectivorous birds. National Geo says we had a NA continental population of 50 billion Monarchs in the mid to late 90's. I remember 2 to 5 caterpillars on every milkweed plant. WTF are we doing?

Dave

http://monarchwatch.org/bring-back-t...n/the-details/
Looks like there is almost nothing left of the population in the Mexico wintering grounds.

We haven't seen any in Muskoka either...

I have not seen any this year , and only 3 or 4 the end of last summer as they were migrating south, area between Kitchener and Hamilton. we and our neighbor across the road [we live in the country], purposely grow flowers and plants to attract them but to no avail.
We have also noticed a lack of other butterflies that were very common around here.

Hardly a scientific study , but in the conservation area yesterday, my husband and I were saying that we'd never seem more milkweed or monarchs. I didn't look for caterpillars, but I'm going to start to do that too.

.... no Yellow Swallowtails seen - my favourite

I seen my first for the year last weekend out birding latest first sighting in 5 years and only have seen 2 yellow swallow tails and a handfull or red emerald's way down this year for all

It's almost on par with the Passenger Pigeon if these bugs go too. Used to be as common as a blade of grass. I wonder if the neonics will be on the list of decline cause for these as well. The bloody dog-strangling vine (swallow-wort) will probably be the nail on the coffin for any remaining Monarchs that manage to make it up here. We had our normal amount of red admirals and swallowtails this year.

Yep seeing all the species just vanish isn't good Man is the culprit in all of this and will be it's dismay

Monarchs? I havn't seen a milkweed in 10 years.

I have some property on the Sydenham River and had to cut all the milkweed down unfortunately on the front half. I left the back half uncut and will be going tomorrow to cut some firewood. I have seen allot of the common white butterflies but no monarch's.

want a real eye opener watch this

http://www.cbc.ca/natureofthings/episodes/songbirdsos

I added milkweed to the flower gardens years ago and I saw caterpillars last year but I haven't seen anything this year. The bee balms usually has many hummingbirds and I only see one or two a day (if that) this year.

I've seen lots of monarchs this year while out scouting crops. Last year I saw more than I've ever seen before but not until almost Labour Day for some reason.

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Originally Posted by DaleK

I've seen lots of monarchs this year while out scouting crops. Last year I saw more than I've ever seen before but not until almost Labour Day for some reason.

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Were they actually Monarch's or were they Viceroy Butterflies ?which are similar.

http://www.learner.org/jnorth/images...Monarch_ID.jpg

Compare Hind Wings

Ive seen a couple. Not many by any means

Things are the same down here - I purposely leave milkweed standing in the field but haven't seen even one this year - something is happening

Just got in from cutting my lot and saw at least a half a dozen Monarchs possibly more . I leave about a half acre uncut and the last time I was there 3 weeks ago i didn't see any. Even walking back to the river I saw all kinds of them flying around.

I have seen a few, nothing like I did in the past. The first (or second) generation just appears to have gone into the butterfly stage around here, explains why you see none then see numbers. I had one caterpillar in my butterfly garden last year and again this year (so far) I did see Monarchs in the garden, and park this week, hopefully laying eggs. The loss of the Milkweed has had a lot to do with their decline, so has the loss of roosting habitat in their wintering home in Mexico. Some cold winters have hurt their numbers but the largest factor was the drought of 2012, all part of Climate Change... oh, wait, that was caused by us as well.

Just as a reminder to all, the Milkweed is no longer on Ontario's Noxious Weed list... we do not have to remove it, we can keep it. I have transplanted some to my garden and have collected seeds which I planted as well. Growing Milkweed is the best thing we can do for the Monarch!

I often disagree with the man; but his foundation, well, it more then just him and his opinion. http://www.davidsuzuki.org/media/new...rch-butterfly/

Also to explain why our numbers are down this year in Ontario http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windso...year-1.3162278

It would be truly a shame to loose this species, I was lucky enough to see an evening massing one night while out for a drive. I came to a stop sign and suddenly realized I was seeing an unusually large number of butterfly's. I parked and got out of the truck, they were coming from all directions going straight to one tree. I have some video of it I will try to post later, it was one of the most amazing things that left me in awe. How did these Monarch, the third generation know to go to that specific tree on their migration, how did they all get there the same night. Truly one of nature's mysteries.

Very cool!

Approx 7 years ago I had a serious overnight from thousands of Monarchs in the trees by my house, a very memorable sight. Now that you mention it I have seen 1 so far this year, whats the timing for the migratory move, think its more towards the fall, we should all look for some evidence and provide feedback.

Removing milkweed from the noxious weed list is one of the few things our gov has done. Too bad they didn't do it long ago...

I have been working with monarchs in my classroom for about a decade now, and yes the numbers are a tiny fraction of what they have been in the past. In Central Ontario the monarchs that have made the long journey north should be laying eggs right now to start the next generation that will migrate south. They are looking for fresh milkweed. I have discovered that a field cut for hay in late June or early July will have younger milkweed with tender leaves perfect for the caterpillars right now. I used to feel guilty cutting a hay field with milkweed, but after finding more than 200 caterpillars on an acre of younger milkweed several years in a row, I cut it down on purpose. I have also been known to check over entire fields if I know a farmer will be cutting hay in August or later. The older, untouched milkweed rarely have caterpillars. If you want to encourage monarchs to lay eggs, encourage new growth milkweed. They love it!

On a note of declining butterflies, there is one species that I am seeing more of over the past 5 years, and that is the Giant Swallowtail butterfly. Possibly due to increasing temperatures, they are surviving further north and feeding on prickly ash rather than citrus trees. It's a gorgeous butterfly.

Great piece of information trout trekker we have lots of prickly ash where I hunt in South Western Ontario as well. If you have anymore information please post it.

The giant swallowtail caterpillars look like bird poop, shoot out bright red antennae and a nasty stink when touched. They only eat the prickly ash supposedly because it is a very close relative of citrus trees. In the tropics, they are considered a pest of citrus orchards. Here in Central Ontario, I raised the caterpillar and kept the chrysalis over winter on our porch. The butterfly emerged the following May or June.

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Originally Posted by jaycee

Were they actually Monarch's or were they Viceroy Butterflies ?which are similar.

http://www.learner.org/jnorth/images...Monarch_ID.jpg

Compare Hind Wings

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Lol. That is near impossible to tell apart, except by really close inspection. All I can see is a cut black line across the back rear wings. I'll look out for that now...

But one feeds strictly on glycol. lol Looks like the body of of the Monarch has white markings compared to the all black body of the Viceroy. To me that would be the easiest way to identify.

Counted over 50 today migration is on
humming birds i counted 120

I think its cyclical. I remember a time when there were blue jays everywhere. They disappeared from around here for almost 30 years and now they're back in droves. Same with cedar waxwings
As kids we used leopard frogs for bait then they disappeared. Now I'm seeing them everywhere.