No Monarch butterfly sightings, no eggs either and it's mid-July. Getting worried.

[ffr]

Where are the Monarch butterflies this year? Anybody see any or find any milkweed with eggs laid on them?

I monitor about 100 Showy milkweed plants within about a 160 mile range, as a sample. Not one egg spotted. Not one Monarch butterfly seen.

[htuttle]

1. Saw two Monarchs in my backyard last weekend

We have a smattering of Milkweed plants around the edges of our yard in Madison, WI (right on the isthmus). I didn't notice any eggs yet, but have seen evidence that something has been eating the leaves.

[ffr]

2. Would it be your perception that they're less plentiful this year?

At least you've seen some, so they haven't been completely wiped out.

[htuttle]

4. Hard to say

I inadvertently (meaning without thinking about it -- it wasn't exactly an accident) wiped out a lot of the milkweed that had filled the yard when I bought the house, so I haven't seen any Monarchs at all for a few years. These were the first I've seen in some time.

I'm letting all of the milkweed stay around from now on, and have been looking at planting more of it in some parts of the yard, so hopefully the Monarchs will follow the food. I hear from a lot of other people around town doing the same thing, so perhaps they'll return to some extent.

[femmocrat]

3. I have seen one butterfly. No eggs or caterpillars yet.

I have a large patch of native milk weed that grows along our fence line and I protect it like it's gold! I'm in western PA.

Last year I was all excited about caterpillars, but they turned out to be tussock moths. These guys look like they could become Monarchs! Alas.... they cannot.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

5. I found out that deer apparently like milkweed.

I've been regularly spraying some of my shrubs that the deer go after, but I didn't think the milkweed needed spraying.

[ffr]

8. I wouldn't think adult milkweed plants would need protection.

Their resin should be enough to deter deer and livestock.

I notice in our yard that rabbits and perhaps squirrels too eat the baby plants and tender Spring chutes, but the adult plants don't receive much predation once established.

On the bright side, I suppose, I have identified more milkweed this year than ever, even openly growing near people's homes. So many flowering plants. The depressing side has been finding that none of them have eggs, caterpillars or any signs of life. Though I have seen some seed pods already, so something must have cross pollinated a few of the flowers. But that has been an isolated patch of plants.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

9. 😥

Seeing the increase in human development (which is destruction for natural areas) makes me so soooo sad.

[C_U_L8R]

6. Fewer Monarchs

https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/sciencefair/2017/02/15/monarch-butterfly-mexico-storms/97945470/

[ffr]

7. Heavy sigh.

All the more important that if there are any eggs laid, they reach adulthood.

Thanks for the link.

[OKIsItJustMe]

10. A Hint Of Hope For Monarch Butterflies In Connecticut

http://www.courant.com/politics/hc-pol-monarch-butterfly-count-20170718-story.html

A Hint Of Hope For Monarch Butterflies In Connecticut

(Video)
Monarch populations may be reaching a danger point where they may be vanishing from CT landscape. Monitoring program use volunteers to track eggs/monarch counts as part of national tracking effort.

Gregory B. Hladky

…

After years of dire reports about the decline of the monarch butterfly, fans of this gorgeous insect now have at least a glimmer of good news: monarch numbers may once again be on the rise in Connecticut.

An annual one-day butterfly count conducted by volunteers in the Farmington River Valley sighted 63 monarchs July 22-23 – the highest total since 2008. Two years ago the Connecticut Butterfly Association’s count found no monarchs at all, and just eight were spotted in 2016.

“That’s so good to hear,” Gerry McCabe, a volunteer from Naugatuck who is working with her husband, Tom, on a long-term monarch butterfly monitoring program at the Kellogg Environmental Center in Derby, said of the Farmington Valley results. On a good day in the fields they check twice a week, the McCabes say they might see just one or two monarchs.

“It’s very good news,” Jay Kaplan, a member of the butterfly association who participated in the most recent Farmington River Valley count, said of the number of monarchs spotted. “But this is just one year,” he cautioned.

…

[kristopher]

11. They're all over here in S. Delaware.

We have a fair number of milkweed plants we encourage and - in spite of the largest stand tangling with an aphid infection that got pretty bad - they're doing great and are well populated with pretty pollinators of all ilk. After a good scrubbing the sickly plant has recovered fully to it's normal happy orange glow.

[ffr]

12. Wonderful! Still none here.

I found an undiscovered patch of about 30 plants of all sizes along some shaded creeks and my heart rose somewhat. There were about 12 full sized seed pods that I'll be able to harvest this Fall.

Still no eggs though or signs of caterpillars. The plants are no good without eggs or seed pods for the next generation.

If you're feeling like you'd like to raise some Monarchs, it's a bit of work, but if you do, watch this video series on how to maximize egg-to-butterfly chances...

[NickB79]

13. Decent numbers here in the Twin Cities

I've got 1/4 acre of my property in prairie restoration, with lots of milkweed, and they appear chewed on.

[ffr]

14. Hope so. Take a closer look. We have a beetle doing that to some plants

It's definitely milkweed beetles here though. It's a losing battle, but I flick them off with my finger and squash them if I can. Soapy water does them in too, from what I understand.