>Monarch Watch Update - October 22, 2004 >http://www.MonarchWatch.org >[log in to unmask] > >========================================== > >Contents: > >1) Report on Deforestation in Mexico > >2) New Update Index > >3) Status of the Population > >4) Tag Recoveries > >5) Western Monarchs > >6) Pesticides Used on Pets and Monarch Rearing > >7) Scaleless monarchs > >8) Monarchs in Spain > >9) Upcoming Monarch Events > >10) New DVD on Butterflies and Skippers > >11) About Our Update List > >========================================== > >Unless otherwise noted, all content was authored by Chip Taylor, edited by >Jim Lovett and Sarah Schmidt, and published by Jim Lovett. The complete >web version of this update is available at: >http://www.MonarchWatch.org/update/2004/1022.html > >========================================== > >1) Report on Deforestation in Mexico > >If you have been following the Updates, you know that in the last 6 months >there has been extensive deforestation in Mexico in the vicinity of the >overwintering monarch colonies. The deforestation has occurred in both the >buffer zones and the core areas that constitute the Monarch Biosphere >Reserve. In previous Updates (May-July 2004) we provided a number of >translations of articles that appeared in the Mexican press concerning the >deforestation and the government's attempts to control it. We also >referred (June 2004 Update) to the efforts by World Wildlife Fund Mexico >to document the extent of the deforestation and the various efforts by >landowners to block the illegal logging. Thanks to WWF Mexico, in >particular Omar Vidal, Carlos Galindo-Leal, and Jordi Honey Rosés, we are >now able to provide an English translation of the WWF Mexico report on the >extent of the illegal logging over the last three years and its impact on >the Monarch Biosphere Reserve. ... > >[ Read the full text of this article at >http://www.MonarchWatch.org/update/2004/1022.html#1 ] > >========================================== > >2) New Update Index > >We have improved the update article index so that it is a little more >useful. The main index page at > >http://www.MonarchWatch.org/update > >provides information about the updates in general (how to subscribe, what >to expect, etc.) as well as easy access to the current year's updates, in >reverse chronological order so that the most recent update is at the top >of the list. This index includes the month and the article listing so that >you can easily find the articles you are looking for. > >You also have the option of viewing previous update listings by year or >all years: > >http://www.MonarchWatch.org/update/index_allyears.html > >The "All Years" index is handy if you have an article topic in mind but >you can't remember when it was posted - just visit that page and quickly >scroll through the article topics or use your web browser's "find" feature >to search for keywords within the article titles. > >If you have any suggestions about this or other aspects of the updates >and/or website in general please feel free to drop me a line anytime! - >Jim ([log in to unmask]) > >========================================== > >3) Status of the Population > >Throughout the late summer and fall all the signs have indicated that this >migration is a small one and that the monarch population overwintering in >Mexico this winter will be well below average. This is the case even >though several observers in Texas have seen large numbers of monarchs (10s >to 100s of thousands) in several locations close to the border. Mike >Quinn, of Texas Parks and Wildlife, asks people throughout Texas to report >sightings of monarchs and he notes the pattern of these reports and posts >the accounts to the Monarch Watch email discussion list, Dplex-L. Many >reports confirm that observers are seeing fewer monarchs this year and >Mike has described the path of the migration through Texas this year as >narrower than usual, again suggestive of a relatively small population ... > >[ Read the full text of this article at >http://www.MonarchWatch.org/update/2004/1022.html#3 ] > >========================================== > >4) Tag Recoveries > >We are diligently working through tag recoveries and can use your help. We >have discovered a small number of tags for which we have no distribution >record (we do not know who received and/or used them) and no datasheet. >The tags (from different years) in question are: > >BJO553 >BKN761 >BKX212 >CAF404 >CIC460 >CIC481 >CIC496 >CIC530 >UO805 >UU206 > >Please check your copy of your datasheets to see if any of these tags are >yours. If so, (or if you can help us track down the tagger) please let us >know - thanks! > >========================================== > >5) Western Monarchs > >There are three items of interest concerning western monarch populations >this month; the arrival of monarchs at overwintering sites in California, >the last stretch drive to raise money for Ellwood Main, and the creation >of a web resource for information on California monarchs ... > >[ Read the full text of this article at >http://www.MonarchWatch.org/update/2004/1022.html#5 ] > >========================================== > >6) Pesticides Used on Pets and Monarch Rearing > >I'll bet you haven't heard the word "imidacloprid" before. Would it >surprise you to learn that you have probably been exposed it and that it >may even be extensively distributed throughout your house? Imidacloprid is >the main ingredient in numerous new insecticides ... it might affect those >monarch caterpillars you've brought into the house, especially if you go >directly from handling your pets to feeding your caterpillars ... > >[ Read the full text of this article at >http://www.MonarchWatch.org/update/2004/1022.html#6 ] > >========================================== > >7) Scaleless monarchs > >In late August, Cathy Schlegel, a staff member at the Minnesota Zoo, >posted the following message to Dplex-L: "I had a Monarch emerge from its >chrysalis yesterday that has no scales on its wings. Except for the veins, >the wings are clear. The body is strange too. Head and thorax appear >normal but the abdomen is black on the top and bottom and lime green on >the sides. This butterfly is the offspring of two farm-raised Monarchs and >was reared in a butterfly exhibit at a Zoo. Has anyone seen this before? >The caterpillar and chrysalis must have been normal because they (zoo >staff) didn't notice anything different until emergence." > >A strange account indeed! I had never heard of a scaleless monarch or an >adult Lepidoptera of any species in which the wings and body were totally >scaleless. ... > >[ Read the full text of this article at >http://www.MonarchWatch.org/update/2004/1022.html#7 ] > >========================================== > >8) Monarchs in Spain > >In September and October in most years, monarchs are seen in coastal areas >in Ireland, England and sometimes France and Holland. These sightings >often give rise to speculations as to the origins of these monarchs. Most >of the speculation focuses on a North American origin with passing mention >given to the possibility that the butterflies might also have originated >from monarch populations established in the Canaries, Azores, or possibly >Spain and Portugal. Unfortunately, little seems to be known about the >distribution and abundance of monarchs and their host-plants in Southern >Europe and the islands off the north west coast of Africa. ... > >[ Read the full text of this article at >http://www.MonarchWatch.org/update/2004/1022.html#8 ] > >========================================== > >9) Upcoming Monarch Events > >For a complete up-to-date listing please visit the "Monarch Events" forum >within our new online community forums: > >http://www.MonarchWatch.org/forums/viewforum.php?f=20 > >If you know of other events that are not listed there, please let us know! > >========================================== > >10) New DVD on Butterflies and Skippers > >Dick Walton, known to most of you who follow monarchs as one of the >architects and coordinators of the Cape May Monarch Monitoring Project >(http://www.concord.org/~dick/mmp02.html) recently sent us a copy of new >DVD designed to introduce beginners to butterflies and skippers. > >The DVD, produced by Dick Walton and Greg Dodge as "Brownbag Productions", >is titled "Common Butterflies and Skippers of Eastern North America". The >digital videography is excellent and each species is represented by clear >images as it forages for nectar, water or liquids or just rests on the >vegetation or the ground. Given that images are close-ups and you can see >the specimens from a variety of angles it is probably easier to learn to >recognize each species on sight through this medium than with a book. A >companion book on the other hand will be of value since it can provide >details on host-plants, distributions, habitats and seasonality knowledge >of which makes the study of butterflies even more interesting. The DVD >also includes a section on the monarch migration as viewed from Cape May. >This section is brief and only tells part of the story but it does provide >a sense of the Cape may habitat and the difficulty monarchs encounter when >their course funnels them to the end of a peninsula. > >For more information or to order a copy please visit > >http://shop.monarchwatch.org/product.aspx?p=109053 > >========================================== > >11) About Our Update List > >You are receiving this email because you have provided Monarch Watch with >your email address at some point and expressed interest in receiving >updates from us. If you do not wish to receive these periodic (probably >monthly) email updates or feel that you were subscribed in error, please >see the unsubscribe information at the end of this message. > >Have you somehow missed (or misplaced ;-) an update? Now you can find all >of the updates archived online at > >http://www.MonarchWatch.org/update > >If you know someone that you think might be interested in receiving these >email updates from Monarch Watch with monarch news, special announcements, >tips on raising monarchs in your classroom, monarch tagging information >and a whole lot more, please send them on over to > >http://www.MonarchWatch.org/signup > >to join our new Monarch-Watch-Update email list - it's easy! > >Monarch Watch (http://www.MonarchWatch.org) is a not-for-profit >educational outreach program based at the University of Kansas. We run a >Monarch tagging program and offer Monarch Rearing Kits, Monarch Tagging >Kits, and other educational/promotional materials that allow you to >actively experience the monarch life cycle and its spectacular fall migration. > >If you would like to be removed from this Monarch Watch Update mailing >list, please send an email message to > >[log in to unmask] > >and include in the body of the message (no other text): > >UNSUBSCRIBE MONARCH-WATCH-UPDATE > >If you have any questions about this, please feel free to contact us anytime. > >Thanks! > >Monarch Watch >http://www.MonarchWatch.org >[log in to unmask] > >This e-mail may be reproduced, printed, or otherwise redistributed as long >as it is provided in full and without any modification. Requests to do >otherwise must be approved in writing by Monarch Watch.