Has really upset a friend who counted them, as they funneled down to the southernmost point of this State before crossing the bay for the South. Few in number and depressing. My plan is to start many Asclepias tuberosa seedlings to give to gardeners. They germination and growth was easy, last time I tried. Perhaps there could be many people who would grow milkweeds on their properties, but the real solution may lie in Mexico. Both the Pileated Woodpecker and Brant pivoted, when faced with real habitat changes, so perhaps the Monarch can.

Bogturtle,
I am hopeful that we can turn things around. The two most important issues are the overwintering site in Mexico, and the nearly universal use of Roundup Ready crops throughout the United States Midwest. 95% of the milkweeds used by Monarchs have been growing alongside agricultural crops. The percentage of fields that are planted in genetically modified organisms that are resistant to Roundup has grown from 25% to over 85% in the past 5-7 years. And as corn has risen in price, farmers have expanded their fields right to the edge of the roads, so there are not even field edges for Monarchs and other insects to cling to. That's why we all need to fill our yards with nectar-producing shrubs and flowers to give them new places to survive.

Martha

Very distressing indeed. I attended a workshop on monarchs last month at my local library. They talked about all the very things you mention docmom. When the audience was asked if they had seen any monarchs this summer, only a handful raised their hands. And those who had had only seen one or two. I've let my milkweed go to seed in hopes that it will help.

Skibby

There are 2 easy ways to help.

1. Plant milkweed in your gardens for them to have something to lay their eggs on -- it's the ONLY thing the caterpillars will eat. Need pods or seeds? MonarchWatch.org sells seed. I myself have some pods if anyone is interested.
2. Plant nectar plants -- Joe Pye weed, coneflowers, phlox, cosmos, zinnas, buddleia, rudbeckia and so on.

I have had a Monarch flower plot for several years. This last summer I saw only a few Monarchs and I am afraid. This next summer I will redouble my efforts.

we had very little butterfly sightings in my area in Ontario Canada as well. Its not just monarchs but other butterflies as well. Interestingly, I had a lot of bees. Apart from the obvious, the climate seems to be the real reason behind the phenomenon. We had severe storms, (hurricanes and tornadoes) and all these affect migration routes. So while we can seed plants (nurseries for these butterfiles) - let's hope for less extreme weather this year.

Lost my comment. Photo shows where milkweed ought to be but is not. Don't think farm chemicals or GMOs account for disappearance of milkweed. It was ubiquitous 50 years ago. Maybe it is new invasive weeds that drive out milkweed. Lots of weeds, no milkweed. Go figure.

Dfscudder, with the introduction of GMO crops engineered to be resistant to the herbicide glyphosate, farmers can now apply the herbicide to their fields throughout the growing season. This practice eliminates all plants other than the GMO crop, including milkweed, that used to provide habitat for numerous insects. Carrying it one step further, those insects in turn provided food for birds. No insects - no birds; even seed-eating birds need insects to feed their young; insects make up about 90% of the young birds' diet. Therefore, many of our agricultural areas are now virtual deserts.

Adding to the damage, surveys have shown that a great many farmers also apply herbicide well beyond the perimeter of their fields, eliminating still more habitat.

Another product under great suspicion for adding to the problem is the new class of pesticides call neonicotinoids, or "neonics" for short. These are systemic and are taken up into the tissues of the plant, delivering a dose of poison to any insect that feeds upon it. Initially it was maintained that the material was only taken into the stems and leaves, but now it seems that it is, in fact, translocated to the pollen and nectar as well. Neonics seem to be quite persistent; rather than breaking down quickly, they can remain present and toxic in plant tissues for many months.

Certainly there are other problems facing the monarchs: loss of habitat in their overwintering sites, diseases like OE, nuclear polyhedrosis virus, and pseudomonas bacteria, also parasitic insects like tachinid flies and braconid wasps, as well as unfavorable weather, particularly during migrating season. Cool, wet weather in spring makes their northward journey more difficult, and dry summers can leave them with precious few nectaring plants on their southward journey in late summer/early autumn.

Any one or two of these challenges probably would not be insurmountable, but it seems the monarch is facing the proverbial "perfect storm" of multiple challenges to its survival.

During a webinar this spring I learned of a non-native, invasive, vining weed that is a problem for the monarch butterfly and other species, as well as a nuisance: swallow wort. A close relative to milkweed, the female monarch is fooled into laying eggs on this plant, but since the plant lacks the proper chemical makeup, all monarch caterpillars that feed upon it will die.

http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/2014/04/invasive-vines-swallow-new-yorks-natural-areas