According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, counts of these familiar orange and black insects are trending down so sharply that their migration is under threat. By some estimates, the Monarch butterfly population has declined by 90 percent over the past two decades, from about 1 billion butterflies in the mid-1990s to just 35 million this past year.
The Center for Biological Diversity and other advocacy groups filed a petition in August 2014 asking the federal government to step in. The Fish and Wildlife Service determined that the petition was worth considering and has launched a year-long review of the status of Monarch butterflies. This means that the butterfly, once common across the United States, could end up on the endangered species list.
Scientists say that the butterfly's decline is linked to a rise in genetically engineered crops which are altered to be resistant to milkweed, the Monarch butterfly caterpillar's only source of food. Monsanto's Roundup herbicide is so successful that milkweed plants have virtually disappeared in Midwestern corn and soybean fields. This is the equivalent of the loss of butterfly habitat the size of Texas.
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| Monarch caterpillars feast on milkweed leaf |
Milkweed is the host plant for Monarch butterflies. Eggs are laid in the spring; milkweed is the only source of food for the larvae. We can collect and sow milkweed seeds. Ideally fall is the best time to harvest seeds when the pods are brown, dry and starting to crack open.
Don't have seeds now? No problem. Check the Live Monarch website for ordering seeds. There has been such a demand for the seeds that Live Monarch is behind in its orders. Place your order now but you may not receive your seeds until the end of April. A contribution of $3.50 for 150 seeds is requested for processing and shipping.
Every little bit helps. It doesn't take huge number of plants in any one stop to help Monarchs, especially during migration.
(Tomorrow: Plants that benefit adult butterflies)
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