A Texas A&M expert says recent freezing weather in Texas and Mexico likely means Monarch numbers will be down again this year.
Craig Wilson, director of the USDA Future Scientists Program, senior research associate in the Center for Mathematics and Science Education and a longtime butterfly enthusiast, said that recent estimates show 105 million Monarchs for 2021, down from 141.5 million in 2020 and 300 million in 2019. But he adds that the population has recovered from a record low in 2013-2014 of only 34 million.
The colorful butterflies spend the winter months in colonies in northern Mexico, where it has also been very cold, before making their annual northward migration in the spring.
“The spring migration has yet to start out of the overwintering sanctuaries in Mexico, although there has been slight movement of some colonies down the mountains,” Wilson said. “Of course, the recent freezing of Texas means that the milkweed plants so necessary for egg laying by the migrating Monarchs have been delayed if not killed pre-emergence. So it is hoped that the Monarchs will remain a little longer in Mexico.”
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