Save the Monarch!

Monarch butterflies have been facing longer odds for a while now.  This year, harsh weather has further kicked them when humanity already had them down.  From Melissa Breyer of Care2 on Yahoo Green:

This year may be one of the worst for the monarch butterfly, experts are reporting.

Severe hailstorms in Mexico (one of the monarch’s winter homes) followed by 15 inches of rain has left the population decimated by up to 50 percent this year. Add to that the ongoing issue of habitat destruction, and the future of the monarch begins to look a little shaky.

Unlike most other insects in temperate climates, monarch butterflies cannot survive a long cold winter, according to MonarchWatch.org. Instead, they spend the winter in roosting spots.

Monarchs west of the Rocky Mountains travel to small groves of trees along the California coast, while those east of the Rocky Mountains fly farther south to the forests high in the mountains of Mexico.

No other butterflies migrate like North American monarchs. They are the only butterflies to make such a long, round-trip migration of up to three thousand miles every year. It’s like "The Odyssey" of the insect world.

Amazingly, they fly in masses to the same winter roosts, often to the exact same trees. Part of the problem monarchs face is the longevity of the trees within which they roost: Illegal logging in Mexico has destroyed the butterflies’ mountain habitats, while property development in California threatens the eucalyptus trees where they roost there.

It is suggested that folks interested in helping to save the monarch butterfly plant milkweed, the plant in which the insect lays its eggs to reproduce.  Again, humanity is standing in the way of the circle of life.  Says Breyer:

In addition to habitat issues and the increasingly severe weather, there has also been a significant increase in the Midwest of planting corn and soybeans that are genetically engineered to be herbicide-resistant. That allows farmers to spray weed killer without hurting the crops, but it has meant almost no milkweed survive in the fields. No milkweed means no place for the butterflies to breed along the way, a crucial step, obviously, in the survival of the species.

That's where we can help. An advocacy group is encouraging the public to create monarch habitats by planting milkweed in home gardens. They're also encouraging schools, zoos, farmers, and anyone else with access to unused land to grow the perennial plants.

Visit Monarchwatch.org to find out what else you can do. For more ways to help butterflies see First Aid for Butterflies and How to Make Butterfly Food.

Tips on growing milkweed can be found on-line, including at this link.

5 April 2010