Nevada Monarch Society Newsletter Spring 2019

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Written and Edited by Brandon Thompson, Carson High School student for the Nevada Monarch Society.

Board of directors: Julie Koop, Ken Koop, Alex Theiss, Cory King

The Nevada Monarch Society is a non-profit organization that’s main goal is to try and bring the population of the Western Monarch Butterfly back up. This species of monarchs are starting to die off and will continue to die if they don’t get help. All through 2018, the population of the western monarch dropped by around 86%. We are trying to help by planting different kinds of native milkweed. We go around and have different events to try and spread awareness and knowledge of the monarch’s situation.

About the Western Monarchs The monarchs rely on milkweed as a food source and a place to lay eggs. The monarchs will lay eggs on Narrow Leaf milkweed, Showy milkweed, and other milkweed common to the area. The larvae depend on the leaves of the milkweed plants to help them grow and also build up the protective toxins needed to keep them from being eaten. The larvae has to go through 5 instars (stages) after it hatches before it can become the pupa (chrysalis) and then the butterfly (adult). In 2017, the average population of the Western Monarch was 148,000 and in 2018 it dropped to 20,456. This is an 86% drop in population making them endangered animals. Please see the link below for more info! https://www.davisenterprise.com/forum/opinion-columns/commentary-so-the-monarch-is-endangered-now-what/?fbclid=IwAR3Eo1kwGLV5ZPnUSwAm4G9YnfE3Nfukm8wUKEI4V4VfUC2TfJ3eAMW8mDk

Highlighted Events for 2018 We hold workshops where people can come and learn about the monarchs and what we do. At our fall workshop families were able to come and see monarchs up close and also learn about milkweed. We also can be found working and presenting around Nevada, teaching people how to plant milkweed and show them ways to attract monarchs. If you are into Farmer’s Markets we can also be seen at some of those in the Carson, Reno, and Gardnerville areas. More event details are on our Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/nevadamonarchsociety/ Pictures below are this years AP Biology class planting milkweed and collecting monarch larva to raise in the classroom and release. Please checkout the newly growing Waystation at Davis Creek Regional Park in Washoe Valley. Also, shown below is a Butterfly in Mrs. Koop’s yard this Fall and a larva in the Carson High School Gardens & Waystation. First larva spotted since the garden was created 2 years ago.

Notes from our Director, Julie Koop

WOW!!!! This year has been crazy, our friends and supporters have more than tripled. We just held the most successful milkweed plant educational distribution at the Greenhouse Project sale, the next one will be May 11th . Awesome people like you have been reaching out to us and it has been so exciting! Nevada now has 44 waystations registered at monarchwatch.org with Kansas University, when we started September 2016 there were only 17, please if you have 10 milkweed plants and 4 nectar providing plants please register your site, we want people to know how important Nevada is to pollinators and especially monarch butterflies! https://monarchwatch.org/waystations/ Thanks to Diane McCoy, we are now truly a society, please consider joining us and becoming a member. Diane stopped at Pismo Beach and Pacific Grove in January. She said her husband and her were able to view Monarch’s overwintering through telescopes. I highly recommend this experience to all of you!

At Earthday events this month we have donated over 450 education gift bags including local native seed packs and have chatted with hundreds of caring people. The excitement about protecting pollinators is going viral and we are so thankful! We have fun gear too, my favorite is the hat, Cory’s in the canvas bag, perfect for shopping with. Alex is busy doing art and creating new art work for a new coffee mug and merchandise. Also, a student at Carson High School (CHS), Miss Crowley has also designed a coffee mug. Which will be available in a month or two. Let us know if you are interested. Please see our webpage and Facebook page for current stuff and info. Last year had the lowest number of western Monarch butterflies ever observed. But more than ever I am sure that if we simply plant native milkweed plants in our yards we will be providing habitat that the butterflies will use! So please SHARE YOUR DIRT AND JOIN US! THANK YOU! Below are pictures taken today of CHS students working in the pollinator and wildlife Gardens and making seed packets, we thought you would enjoy.

More Links and Contact Info:

http://www.nvmonarchs.org/

https://www.facebook.com/nevadamonarchsociety/ Washoe Valley, Nevada 89704

Telephone: (775) 338-3841 Email: nvmonarchs@gmail.com

https://www.monarchmilkweedmapper.org/western-monarch-biology/