The 2018 edition of the Blitz took place from July 28 to August 5. This year again, it was a success! Thanks to those who shared observations of monarchs and milkweeds during that period, we broke last year’s records. Here are some numbers demonstrating the energy invested by Mission Monarch participants during the Blitz.
by André-Philippe Drapeau Picard, Mission Monarch coordinator
24,831
That’s the number of milkweed plants that were monitored looking for caterpillars. It’s more than twice as much as last year! As monarchs only lay eggs on this plant, it is essential to know its distribution to find the butterfly’s breeding hotspots. Thus, it is important to share your milkweed observations, even if no monarch were found!
2,237
This is the number of caterpillars that were observed on milkweed plants. It’s almost ten times as much as last year! In fact, monarchs are very abundant this summer. It’s a good sign, but it doesn’t mean the population is re-established. Don’t forget that last December in Mexico, the population was at its lowest in three years.
241
That’s the number of participants. In other words, it’s you! You were almost twice as numerous as last year!
322
Finally, here is the number of locations where observations were made. Those sites are distributed in seven Canadian provinces and nine American states. Not bad! The larger the territory covered by your observations, the better our knowledge of monarch and milkweed distributions during the butterfly’s breeding period.
The 2018 Blitz is now over, but monarchs will still be around for a couple of weeks before they undergo the migration to Mexico! Keep an eye open and continue to share your observations until the end of the fall.
The Monarch Monitoring Blitz is an initiative of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation. It was organized by the Insectarium/Montréal Space for Life, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Monarch Joint Venture, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Mexico’s Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas.
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