{"id":3392,"date":"2018-09-11T17:34:27","date_gmt":"2018-09-11T17:34:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mission-monarch.org\/?p=3392"},"modified":"2019-12-24T14:54:58","modified_gmt":"2019-12-24T14:54:58","slug":"the-2018-blitz-by-numbers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mission-monarch.org\/wordpress\/the-2018-blitz-by-numbers\/","title":{"rendered":"The 2018 Blitz by numbers"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The\u00a02018 edition of the Blitz<\/a>\u00a0took 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\u2019s records. Here are some numbers demonstrating the energy invested by\u00a0Mission Monarch<\/em>\u00a0participants during the Blitz.<\/p>\n

by Andr\u00e9-Philippe Drapeau Picard,\u00a0Mission Monarch<\/em>\u00a0coordinator<\/p>\n

24,831<\/h2>\n

That\u2019s the number of milkweed plants that were monitored looking for caterpillars. It\u2019s 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\u2019s breeding hotspots. Thus, it is important to share your milkweed observations, even if no monarch were found!<\/p>\n

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2,237<\/h2>\n

This is the number of caterpillars that were observed on milkweed plants. It\u2019s almost ten times as much as last year! In fact, monarchs are very abundant this summer. It\u2019s a good sign, but it doesn\u2019t mean the population is re-established. Don\u2019t forget that last December in Mexico, the population was at its lowest in three years.<\/p>\n

241<\/h2>\n

That\u2019s the number of participants. In other words, it\u2019s you! You were almost twice as numerous as last year!<\/p>\n

322<\/h2>\n

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\u2019s breeding period.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The Monarch Monitoring Blitz is an initiative of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation. It was organized by the Insectarium\/Montr\u00e9al Space for Life, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Monarch Joint Venture, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Mexico’s Comisi\u00f3n Nacional de \u00c1reas Naturales Protegidas.<\/p>\n

More articles<\/h4>\n