I'm a newbie at this, and just released my first 3 monarchs. At first I thought they were all female, then looking at the pics realized one was a male.
They eclosed on Friday and I released one Friday and 2 Saturday.
They'll be migrating soon I'm sure.
My question is, do they mate while still here in the North? I know when they return in the Spring, they lay eggs then. Do they lay eggs the whole time while migrating? Or do they wait til Spring to do it all?
thanks for educating this newbie!
a mating question
Hmm, Let me get this all in one email
So according to this, when it is time to migrate, they eat alot in travel, get to the SOuth, mate and die. Then as warm temperatures and lengthening days arrive, the migratory generation of monarchs finishes the development they halted prior to their migration. They become reproductive, breed and lay the eggs of the new generation. This starts the northern journey back to North America. Unlike the generation before them, who made a one-generation journey south, successive generations make the journey north.
Check this out
http://www.monarchlab.org/biology/AnnualLifeCycle.aspx
I thought the ones here migrated to Mexico and back here again, no?
From the map they travel down thru the eastern states and looks like some hit the westerly winds taking them to mexico and some hit an easterly wind taking them down here to me in florida. Here is the page that describes it more. All seems so interesting
http://www.fs.fed.us/monarchbutterfly/migration/index.shtml
thanks for the info - I thought it was amazing they could fly that far and back. Oh well, still amazing for such a little fragile creature.
so will the ones I just released mate now?
I don;t think it is cold up by you yet so if they are a few weeks old, probably will mate. it may be those cats that pupate and hatch that will be the migrators. we don;t deal with that down here too much in Florida.
I haven't seen any cats the past few weeks so thought these would be the migrators
Debilu, I grew up in Fairport.I've been down here in florida and raising monarch's for the last 2 years or should I say raising milkweed.
As soon as the males are born they are looking for love.I've seen very young females or atleast one get approched while she was still waiting for her wings to dry shortly after emerging.I have no idea what the female behavior is up Monroe county and I'm sure the females planning on making the long trip to mexico don't do much fooling around with foolish boys because they are to busy nectaring and building up reserves for the long flight.Down here the milkweed by the end of summer is not much to look at and needs to cut back to get some fresh growth going.So I don't see many eggs until probably late october or early november from the monarchs coming down here from the north. Don
Hi Don
When I moved here (just from east of Syracuse NY) I lived first in Fairport. cute little town.
I'm just wondering if the 3 I raised, 1 male, 2 females got together in the cage before I released them. I didn't think they would mate til spring, but I guess they also lay eggs as they migrate south
The way I understand it is the Monarchs that fly to Mexico are the last brood of summer, late August to September. It's later for us in the south. The theory is the shorter days and cooler nights signal the start of the migration.
In Mexico they congregate and rest. By mid March they still have some energy reserves and start the return trip. They also start mating and laying eggs. They get to North Mexico and that wintering generation will die. The eggs left behind ensure the next generation. this new brood continues northward, laying eggs as they go. It may take 3 or 4 generations to reach the northern limit of milkweed.
The summer broods only live 3 - 4 weeks, their main goal is to reproduce, whereas the final summer brood devotes their energies to migration.
It's all so amazing isn't it? It's really quite a miracle.
Monarchs:
To put it into a nut shell, according to published experts, the monarchs that winter in Mexico head north in the spring, as we all know. Five generations, more or less, occur between the ones leaving Mexico and the ones returning in the fall. They lay eggs everywhere. The hatchlings will fly in the same directions of the adults that laid the eggs.
Monarchs west of the Rockies will over-winter in 4 or 5 locations in California. We now have a resident population here in Houston, due to a lack of any hard freezes for the past several years. There are probably resident populations in Florida, as well.
Trust me, the migrants coming through here, heading for Mexico, will stop and lay eggs. They annually eat us out of all of our stock of milkweed. Those hatchlings may or may not make it to Mexico, according to the weather. And they are part of the 5th generation annually returning to Mexico.
The distance record for tagged monarchs averages up to 1500 miles for the return trip to Mexico. I think there have been some in the 1800 mile category. During those long flights they do have to stop and feed. Anything and everything happens during those stops. There mating instincts do not shut down just because they are headed south instead of north (east or west).
http://www.MonarchWatch.org/
Rod
thanks!!