2. Problem
Nectar sources and their dependent species are in
decline.
native bees
butterflies
Need Spring, Summer, Fall Blooms.
The Monarch host plant, is lacking on the landscape.
3. Purpose
Create and improve pollinator habitat
across the State of Ohio.
Increase and improve pollinator
conservation awareness for all Ohioans.
4. Past Year
Monarch Listing Petition
White House Strategy Directive
FWS/USGS Monarch Map
New Highway Bill
5. Monarchs
Need Nectar plants blooming July – Sept.
Need Host Plant – Milkweed sp.
Undisturbed Milkweed in Aug.
Connectivity – We need gas stations that are
closer than five hundred miles apart. How far
can YOU go on a tank of gas?
6. Monarch Life Cycle
Photo sources: Michelle Solensky, Denny Brooks, Mary Holland, Dave Astin, Wendy Caldwell
7. 7
Instar: Period between larval molts. Monarchs have 5
instars.
Egg
First
Instar
Fifth Instar
Karen Oberhauser
14. Monarchs
No one wants to see the Monarch listed.
Landscape Level Effort
Create and protect enough habitat to prevent listing.
If everyone does all they can, the effort to increase
Monarchs will be successful.
16. OPHI - One Year Old
ODOT – Pheasants & Quail Forever Projects
AEP Projects
USDA - NRCS
Statewide Network of Partners
Pilot Seed Program – 1.5 billion new stems
needed nationwide!
Monarch Joint Venture Partners!!
17. • Honey Bees: Reduce honey bee colony losses during winter
(overwintering mortality) to no more than 15% within 10
years.
• Monarch Butterflies: Increase the Eastern population of the
monarch butterfly to 225 milllion butterflies occupying an area
of approximately 15 acres (6 hectares) in the overwintering
grounds in Mexico, through domestic/international actions and
public-private partnerships, by 2020.
• Pollinator Habitat Acreage: Restore or enhance 7 million
acres of land for pollinators over the next 5 years through
Federal actions and public/private partnerships.
NATIONAL STRATEGY TO PROMOTE THE HEALTH OF
HONEY BEES AND OTHER POLLINATORS
Pollinator Health Task Force
18. Federal Highway Bill
Decreased Mowing Strategies
Supportive of pollinator habitat via ROWS
and other strategic areas
Realize the importance of Milkweed “Monarch
Flower”
21. Transmission Line Examples
New Albany Study Plots
Currently underway and will include:
Several plots representing beneficial vegetation for pollinators,
song birds, game birds and wildlife and opportunities for public
outreach and education.
Dawes Arboretum Transmission line
Licking County – US Rt. 36 Approx. 1/3 acre of native grass/forbs
and beneficial vegetation for pollinators.
Pleasant Valley Wildlife Area
In planning phase:
Essential pollinator nectar, host plant and stop-over/nesting
native grasses. Also will include introduction to alternative
maintenance techniques geared toward pollinator health and
longevity.
22. USDA Efforts
Farm Service Agency (FSA)
Natural Resources Conservation Services (NRCS)
NRCS - EQIP Bee Initiative – This past year,
occurred in 24 Ohio counties… potential for
Statewide 2016?
FSA CRP Pollinator Practice – CP42 1,300 acres in
Ohio currently (room for more)
FSA CRP Monarch Safe Proposal in Approval Process
FSA CRP Mid-Contract Mgmt. – cost share incentives
for landowners to create pollinator blocks or strips
NRCS 10 State Monarch Pilot Program
23. • Core committee established a milkweed seed banking
program collecting common and swamp milkweed across
central Ohio.
• Collected seed has been separated from the silk, dried and
is being properly stored to ensure germination. Seed will be
tested by universities for viable germination.
• The seeds will then be potted in late winter in time to
ensure proper growth by time of distribution.
• The established milkweed plugs will be distributed to OPHI
recommended projects within the areas of the state where
the initial pod collection took place and other strategic sites
throughout the state in 2016.
• The pilot project in central Ohio will allow for refinement of
this project before it is initiated statewide.
Milkweed Pod Pilot Project
24. All Hands On Deck
Urban
Suburban
Rural
All you can – Where you can!
26. Partnerships
OPHI is seeking partners to achieve
the goals of creating pollinator &
Monarch habitat and educate
Ohioans on the importance of
pollinators.
27. $2,000 from Darke County Pheasants Forever for
Pollinator Public Relations efforts.
4 billboards throughout Summer
News Releases and PSAs
Pollinator Workshop in Shelby County
28. We’d like to thank our primary partners in this
initiative:
Thank You!
Notes de l'éditeur
Monarchs go through what is called metamorphosis. From egg to adult, there are many changes that take place throughout the life cycle of a butterfly. They have specific habitat requirements in each stage.
It takes about a month for an egg to grow and change into an adult butterfly.
There are 5 caterpillars here. Does anyone know what an “instar” is?
An instar is the period between larval molts. Monarchs have 5 instars. Each instar lasts about 2-3 days.
Each new instar grows and expands until the outer skin splits, the head capsule falls off, and the new larva is able to crawl out of its skin. Monarch larvae are eating machines, growing to 2000 times their original mass.
When a monarch larvae is ready to form a chrysalis it crawls several meters away from the plant it was eating to find a sheltered area. It then spins a silk button with the spinneret located beneath its mandibles (jaws). Once the button is spun, it turns back around and hangs upside down from it’s abdomen for 12-18 hours.
When ready, the monarch larvae molts, one last time, skin splitting at the back of the head/neck area. Once this starts, it only takes about 30 seconds for molt to finish. The shiny green pupa below is still soft. Within 30 minutes the pupa will reshape itself into what most people recognize as a monarch pupa. The casing will completely harden within the next 24 hours.
10 to 14 days after pupation, the pigmentation of the adult butterfly begins to show through the transparent casing of the pupa. Pigment is the last thing to form before a monarch is ready to eclose (emerge) from the pupa casing.
It is a myth that butterflies and moths turn to soup inside the pupa – if you look carefully, even a newly formed chrysalis will show wing veins beneath the surface.
It takes about 30-60 seconds for a monarch to open up the casing and make it’s way out. Its wings look small and deformed at first, but the monarch will soon pump its abdomen, releasing liquid into the wings to make them expand to their full size. The adult will hang upside down for 4-5 hours after it emerges to let its wings dry and harden into their shape. The adult is still very fragile for the first 24-48 hours after eclosion, but they can fly as soon as their wings harden. This link is a video of a monarch eclosing.
Monarchs spend November to Mid- March in Central Mexico (or southern California, though they leave mid-February in CA). When the sun begins to get stronger and the days grow longer, the monarchs that have survived the winter begin to leave, mating along the way north. This graphic shows the stages of their journey North.
Monarchs follow the milkweed, laying eggs along the way. These eggs take about 4 weeks to turn into adults and they will continue the migration north, as conditions in the southern parts of the US become too hot and dry for monarchs (and milkweed) to tolerate. Most of the monarchs end up in the corn belt of the Midwestern states. These monarchs will go through another 2-4 generations over the summer growing season. That last generation is the next migratory generation that will make the journey to Mexico.
These monarchs have NEVER been to Mexico before, and yet they find the same forested peaks year after year!
Monarchs have your typical butterfly life cycle (metamorphosis), but they have something else: Migration!
The monarch migration is one of the largest animal migrations in the world. Monarchs fly from the northern US and southern Canada all the way to central Mexico every fall: up to 3,000 miles! The population west of the Rocky Mountains migrates to the coast of California, which is not as far, but no less spectacular.
As you can see in this graphic, migration begins in September and monarchs have usually reached the overwintering sites by November 1st (Dia de los Muertos – The Day of the Dead – in Mexico).
Monarchs that migrate are part of the super generation – they will live 7-9 months, migrating to the overwintering site, living through the winter, and then migrating part of the way north again in the spring.