Monarch butterflys in Texas

The Monarch’s are here!  At least in Real Texas they are here. I’m sure they will be moving south as fast as the wind blows.  We have been enjoying the annual Monarch butterfly migration through Texas here at Sherwood Ranch the last few days.

Texas is located between the principal breeding grounds in the north and the overwintering area in Mexico. Monarch Butterfly’s travel through Texas both in the fall and the spring, but we notice them most in the fall here at Sherwood Ranch.     During the fall, monarchs use two principal flyways. One of the flyways  goes through Texas in a 300-mile wide path stretching from Wichita Falls to Eagle Pass. The brightly colored Monarchs enter the Texas portion of this flyway during the last days of September. As I write this article, it is the first week of October, 2009.  By the third week of October, most have passed through on into Mexico.

The second flyway is located along the Texas coast and lasts mostly from the third week of October to the middle of November. In places, Monarchs may be seen in the tens of thousands. Look for the largest numbers during the second and third weeks of October in west central Texas, from San Angelo to Bracketville to Eagle Pass. So, according to experts, we may be just seeing the first wave of Monarchs or it could be all of them coming through here at one time.  We’ll keep our eyes open in a couple of weeks for another wave to come through.

Nearly any place with trees or bushes is a good places to find monarchs. Many locations along the Devils, Llano, Frio, and Sabinal rivers are also good.  They will stay in an area in hot, moist weather with southerly winds, but will leave immediately with a passing front.  I believe that is what happened last year as a norther was really blowing through here.

Here is a video of the Monarch’s at Sherwood Ranch:

Wasn’t that a great video of all the Monarch butterflies and Ramona?
At any rate, the Monarchs are beautiful to watch and are also really attracted to Ramona’s butterfly garden located in the middle of our driveway.  They have the ability to fly long distances, escaping winter cold and with little food.

Where are they going?

They are heading through Texas to nine high mountain sites in fir forests of central Mexico. They arrive at the overwintering areas in November, remaining there until March of the following spring. Then they return to Texas and the southern United States to lay eggs on freshly sprouted milkweeds, their favorite food. By late spring, most have left the Gulf coastal states and are breeding further north. By the beginning of June they have reached the northern U.S. and Canada where they continue to breed all summer.

In early spring female monarchs lay eggs on milkweed. The eggs hatch into larvae that eat the milkweed, but we have observed Monarch caterpillars on other sorts of vegetation.   Just last weekend in Austin, sister-in-law Susan Werst counted 13 caterpillars on her shrubs in South Austin.  I’m sure our Monarchs are headed her way right now.

After 2-3 weeks the mature larvae pupate, forming green chrysalides with gold spots. Adult monarchs emerge from the chrysalides seven to ten days later.

Tagged as: david werst, monarch butterfly migration, Ramona Werst, Real Texas, Real Texas Blog, Texas Lifestyle