South Dakota Monarch Butterfly's Boletim

Well, my lawn is more tan than green and the flowers in my garden are starting to set seeds. I have been seeing lots of butterflies out and about, especially Monarchs and Regal Fritillaries. The regal numbers are fading as females start to lay their eggs, but the Monarch numbers should start increasing as the migration starts. Seeing all the sightings from people has been great, but be sure to post about groups you see during the fall migration. People with Monarch tags will start marking the southward bound butterflies, so be sure to start reporting any larger you groups you see. Hopefully we have shed the triple digits for the year, and we can start enjoying more pleasant days. Keep getting out there and looking at nature!!

Dan

Dan is right - it's that time of year to tag monarchs. I was at the Butterfly Garden yesterday just to see if there was more activity. It was kind of quiet. A viceroy had me excited for awhile. One female monarch came by to lay eggs and I didn't really want to bother her by putting a tag on. I half-heartedly tried to catch her and missed. Maybe another day.

It's getting late for monarch eggs. In the life cycle, eggs can take 3-5 days to hatch. The larva stage takes 9-14 days and the pupa stage takes 8-15 days. Winter is coming - better hurry!!

The wind was out of the north on Friday which usually means it's a good day for migration south. The numbers of monarchs weren't high, but I did find them at their favorite night roosts - Farm Island and an eastside (Pierre) cemetery.

Saturday morning, Dan and I caught and tagged four monarchs. I went to the cemetery in the evening and caught another five.

Not big tagging numbers yet. The peak of migration for our area is mid-September, so more to come.