Summer 2013: Where Were the Monarchs?

Six of the last seven years have shown drops, and there are now only one-fifteenth as many butterflies as there were in 1997. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/09/09/logging-monarch-butterflies-mexico/2790039/



Summer 2013: Where Were the Monarchs?

by JILL on SEPTEMBER 11, 2013

"where are the monarchs? Over and over, butterfly gardeners from Missouri to Minnesota to Massachusetts wondered, “Am I doing something wrong this year? Why haven’t there been any monarchs on my milkweed?”

The sad answer is this: Nope, you weren’t doing anything wrong. There simply weren’t very many monarchs around this summer in the eastern half of the U.S. The reason is actually a combination of factors that started well over a year ago.

2012 Drought: Last summer, a massive drought across the middle of the country caused milkweed to suffer, and monarchs suffered along with it. Without this plant, monarchs can’t reproduce. This led to…

Extremely Low Wintering Numbers: Over the winter of 2012 – 2013, the overwintering population in Mexico reached an all-time low. The numbers are pretty staggering, actually – the winter population was a shocking 80% below normal. An average year sees about 350 million overwintering monarchs. The winter of 2012-2013 saw only about 60 million.

A Cold Spring: As if this weren’t enough, the monarch population suffered another blow in the spring of 2013. The monarchs completed their spring migration back to Texas, where generally this generation mates, lays eggs, and dies. This new generation was met this past spring with unusually cold temperatures late into the season, meaning this monarch population was slow to grow, mature, and continue the journey north. Ultimately, it led to many fewer monarchs making the migration journey, and even fewer of them completing the trip as far north as southern Canada, where they usually top out.

So, no, you weren’t alone if you didn’t see much in the way of monarchs this summer. They suffered a sort of “perfect storm”, making them rare in much of their eastern range in the summer of 2013.