VSP: Annual International Monarch Monitoring Blitz

The 3rd Annual International Monarch Monitoring Blitz is coming up in Canada, Mexico and the United States from 27 July to 4 August 2019. [VSP hours to be recorded in VMS under the category “Monarch Watch”]

For one week, the Blitz invites people across North America to go out to gardens, parks and green areas and monitor milkweed plants for monarch eggs, caterpillars, chrysalises and butterflies. This information will help researchers identify priority areas for monarch conservation actions.

You can help by spreading the word, hosting a monitoring event, or monitoring yourself during this time!

To take part in the Blitz, simply observe milkweed and monarchs, and report your observations to Monarch Larva Monitoring Project . Record the location and area where you monitored, the number of milkweed plants observed, and the number and life stage of monarchs counted (even if there are no monarchs!). You can also share about and follow the Blitz on social media using the hashtag #MonarchBlitz.

The Blitz is an initiative of the Trinational Monarch Conservation Science Partnership, created through the Commission for Environmental Cooperation http://www.cec.org/ (CEC).

Through the Blitz, scientists from the Insectarium/Montreal Space for Life http://espacepourlavie.ca/insectarium, Environment and Climate Change Canada https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change.html , Monarch Joint Venture http://www.monarchjointventure.org/, the US Fish and Wildlife Service https://www.fws.gov/, the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation https://xerces.org/, and Mexico’s Commission
Nacional de Areas Naturales Protegidas https://www.gob.mx/conanp are asking the public to help them understand monarch and milkweed distribution throughout North America. Data gathered during the Blitz will be uploaded to the Trinational Monarch Knowledge Network, where they will
be accessible for anyone for consultation and download.

FACTS ABOUT THE 2018 MONARCH BLITZ
486 participants across Canada, Mexico, and the United States
1,323 records
53,588 milkweed plants monitored
13,796 monarchs observed
6,905 eggs
4,900 caterpillars
470 chrysalises
1,521 butterflies

For more information, contact Andre-Philippe Drapeau Picard, Blitz
Coordinator, Insectarium/Montreal Space for Life at
xdrapan@ville.montreal.qc.ca