Monarch (Danaus plexippus) addendum to COSEWIC November 2016 Status Report

Official title: Addendum to COSEWIC November 2016 Status Report for the Monarch Danaus plexippus in Canada

2018

The purpose of this note is to clarify that Monarch is considered vagrant (a wildlife species whose geographical range is outside the provincial/territorial jurisdiction, has never established a viable subpopulation or contributed to future generations in that jurisdiction but may occasionally be recorded in that jurisdiction) in Northwest Territories and Newfoundland and Labrador.

Northwest Territories and Newfoundland and Labrador should not be included on the list of provinces and territories comprising the “Range of Occurrence” in Canada for Monarch. The inclusion of these two jurisdictions in the Range of Occurrence for the 2016 COSEWIC assessment and update status report was an error. Monarch larvae are dependent on a variety of milkweed (Asclepias spp.) plant species, whose distributions in Canada do not include Newfoundland and Labrador or Northwest Territories. Monarchs reach the island of Newfoundland as migrants, but do not breed there due to the lack of milkweeds and consequently, those found there do not contribute to future generations.

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2018-02-27

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Monarch (Danaus plexippus) addendum to COSEWIC November 2016 Status Report

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