The Miracle That is The Monarch Sonny Ramaswamy Overview • Monarch Biology • Prologue • Travelogue • Epilogue Biology www.monarchwatch.org Butterfly Milkweed, Asclepias tuberosa www.monarchwatch.org Caterpillar photo courtesy: Jane Kinkus Yatcilla Mimicry Monarch, Danaus plexippus Viceroy, Limenitis archippus http://www.kidzone.ws/animals/monarch_butterfly.htm Characteristics • Ectotherm • Mother knows best • Population buildup • Host geographical range • Weather and Climate • Resources Kansas State University, Manhattan Prologue Catalina Aguado and Ken Brugger http://www.flightofthebutterflies.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/discovery-citizen-science-1.jpg http://proof.nationalgeographic.com/2014/11/03/cover-girls-the-women-of-national-geographic/ Urquhart, F. A. 1976. Found at last: The Monarch’s winter home. National Geographic, 150:160-173 The monarch brain integrates time of day with the sun’s position in the sky. Eli Shlizerman http://www.flightofthebutterflies.com/epic-migrations/ http://www.washington.edu/news/files/2016/04/Monarch_clock-224x300.jpg Travelogue http://www.wtg-online.com/data/mex/mexmap.asp Angangueo Sierra Chincua Oyamel Fir in Sierra Chincua and El Rosario El Rosario Reserva Monarca Epilogue From: [email protected] on behalf of Donald Davis Sent: Tue 3/17/2009 3:58 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [Canadian-arthropods] Announcing the Death of Norah Urquhart CM Hello all: I regret to inform you of the passing of Mrs. Norah Urquhart, wife and research partner of the late Professor Fred Urquhart of the University of Toronto. Mrs. Urquhart passed away after a brief illness. In June 2008, Norah celebrated her 90th birthday. She had been in frail health for a long time and was unable to battle a gastro intestinal bug that closed the nursing home to visitors. Both Urquharts were appointed to the Order of Canada in 1998 and are credited with what has been described as one of the greatest entomological discovery of the 20th century - the discovery of the monarch butterfly overwintering sites in Mexico. Gerald Wilde www.monarchwatch.org Carol Kaesuk Yoon. Storm in Mexico devastates Monarch butterfly colonies. The New York Times, February 12, 2002, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final, Section A; Page 1; Column 2; Foreign Desk. Brad Plummer, January 29, 2014. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/01/29/the- monarch-butterfly-population-just-hit-a-record-low-heres-why/ Estimate is 145 million butterflies on 2.9 hectares; 27 percent less than last year, but 600 percent higher than the lowest on record between 2012 and 2014 http://www.eeb.cornell.edu/agrawal/2017/02/10/monarch-population-size-over-winter-2016- 2017-announced/ http://monarchwatch.org/blog/2017/02/11/monarch-population-status-30/ The Cycle Continues • GMOs • Loss of habitat • Urbanization • Loss of milkweed and nectar hosts • Pesticides • Climate Change • Extreme weather events • Droughts • Fire ant and other predators President Barack Obama’s Executive Order https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/whitehouse.gov/files/images/Blog/PPAP_2016.pdf https://www.fws.gov/savethemonarch/ https://portal.nifa.usda.gov/web/crisprojectpages/1012140-enhancing-great-lakes-landscapes-for-healthy-pollinators.html https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/national/plantsanimals/pollinate/?cid=NRCSEPRD402207 Pollinator Partnership http://pollinator.org What can you do? • Habitat reconstruction • Milkweed plants • Butterfly friendly yards, parks • Minimize pesticide use • Monarch Watch and tagging • Citizen scientist http://www.learner.org/jnorth/maps/monarch.html ….think anew, and act anew. - Abraham Lincoln.