Monarch Butterflies in Jeopardy!

Photograph of a female Monarch Butterfly en ( ...
Photograph of a female Monarch Butterfly on a hybrid Milkweed (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In the summertime, grasslands, fields, and vacant city lots were filled with flashes of the familiar orange, black, and white of the monarch butterflies as they flitted from one flower to another. They were abundant. Every view included one or more of these delicate wisps of color.

That was how I remember my childhood, as I recall seeing dozens of monarchs, fritillaries, swallowtails, and skippers along pathways near creeks and streams.

But times have changed. I now live in a wooded area where I would have expected to see an abundance of monarchs. I haven’t seen one in two years.

I’m not alone.

The scientific community is concerned with the number of monarchs, the only North American butterfly known to migrate. Monarchs are rapidly dwindling in numbers. According to the NewYork?Times, the number of monarchs over the past 15 years has lost as many as 81 percent between 1999 and 2010. Recovery has been slow. The spring of 2013 reported Mexican forests contained the fewest number of monarchs in 20 years. Some are concerned for the future of the species.

Several factors have contributed to the decline of these amazing insects, on both ends of their migratory path which ranges which takes these cold-blooded insects from northern Minnesota and Canada to Mexico.

In Mexico, the monarch’s winter habitat is being decimated by Illegal logging and climate change. Earth Sky, a daily radio series and blog about science and nature, reports that nine hibernating colonies occupied three acres during the 2012-2013 winter. But that isn’t the worst of it.

The life cycle of the monarch is reliant on milkweed, the plant on which the adult female lays her eggs. Milkweed is the only plant a monarch caterpillar can eat.

Milkweeds have long been considered a pest by both farmers and homeowners alike, resulting in record numbers of them being killed with herbicides. Glyphosate, the chemical contained in Roundup made by Monsanto, has effectively sterilized farm fields. Roundup Ready corn, soybeans, and other genetically-engineered crops have been modified to resist glyphosate. The result is that only the crop survives while everything else, including the only plant monarchs rely upon for survival, does not.?According to the New York Times:

There is a direct parallel between the demise of milkweeds–killed by the herbicide glyphosate, which is sprayed by the millions of gallons on fields where genetically modified crops are growing–and the steady drop in monarch numbers.

Some people interested in preserving the future of these amazing insects are trying to reverse this trend.

Monarch Watch, an educational outreach program based at the University of Kansas, engages citizen scientists in large-scale research projects. Since 1992, Monarch Watch involves 2,000 schools, nature centers, and other organizations across the United States and Canada. Monarchs are tagged and counted each fall. The group says on its website:

To assure a future for monarchs, conservation and restoration of milkweeds needs to become a national priority. They encourage the creation of Monarch Way stations in backyards all across the country.

They hope to preserve the species and continue the spectacular monarch migration phenomenon.

Edited/Published by: SB

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I had a successful career actively working with at-risk youth, people struggling with poverty and unemployment, and disadvantaged and oppressed populations. In 2011, I made the decision to pursue my dreams and become a full-time writer. Connect with me on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.