The WWF-Telmex Telcel Foundation Alliance, in collaboration with the National Commission of Natural Protected Areas (CONANP), the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), and the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve (MBBR), announced the total forest area occupied by overwintering monarch colonies today. Nine (9) colonies were located this winter season with a total area of 0.90 […] The post Monarch Population Status appeared first on Monarch Watch ..read more

Eastern Monarch Population I recently agreed to write up a brief update on the status of the population at the start of the migration. Sure, I said, that’s easy – I can write about the fact that the migration has started at the northern most latitudes (Winnipeg, 50N) and I can check on the numbers […] The post Monarch Population Status appeared first on Monarch Watch ..read more

The WWF-Telmex Telcel Foundation Alliance, in collaboration with the National Commission of Natural Protected Areas (CONANP), the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), and the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve (MBBR), announced the total forest area occupied by overwintering monarch colonies today. Eleven (11) colonies were located this winter season with a total area of 2.21 […] The post Monarch Population Status appeared first on Monarch Watch ..read more

Each year, at about this time, I administer a test – to myself. I have one question. How big, in term of hectares*, will the overwintering population be this year? Technically, I fail the test every time and expect to. Realistically, it would be virtually impossible to correctly predict the overwintering numbers given the number […] The post How many hectares in 2021-2022? appeared first on Monarch Watch ..read more

The WWF-Telmex Telcel Foundation Alliance, in collaboration with the National Commission of Natural Protected Areas (CONANP), the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), and the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve (MBBR), announced the total forest area occupied by overwintering monarch colonies today. Ten (10) colonies were located this winter season with a total area of 2.84 […] The post Monarch Population Status appeared first on Monarch Watch ..read more

Predicting how the population will develop each year is a challenge. As recently as the 22nd of April, we posted a rather dismal account of the status of the population. This assessment was based on reports to Journey North, iNaturalist and from some emails received from people in Texas. Overall, there wasn’t a lot of […] The post Development of the 2022 monarch population so far appeared first on Monarch Watch ..read more

I have looked at a lot of monarch and weather data over the years in attempts to understand the factors that influence the development of the population. These factors include the number of monarchs returning to Texas from Mexico, whether the migration is early or late, the mean temperatures in March, the timing of the […] The post Monarch Population Status appeared first on Monarch Watch ..read more

The migration is underway! EASTERN MONARCHS As you may remember, earlier I offered that the recolonization this past May and early June of the summer breeding area was quite favorable. Monarchs generally arrived on time and in good numbers leading to a large second generation. Things looked favorable for a large migratory population that could […] The post Monarch Population Status appeared first on Monarch Watch ..read more

World Wildlife Fund Mexico in collaboration with CONANP and the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve (MBBR) announced the total forest area occupied by overwintering monarch colonies today. Nine (9) colonies were located this winter season with a total area of 2.10 hectares, a 26% decrease from the previous season (2.83 ha): Figure 1. Total Area Occupied […] The post Monarch Population Status appeared first on Monarch Watch ..read more