The monarch butterfly is fighting for survival
You can use your backyard to help save the monarch from extinction
By Rosanna Wakley
Knightly News Reporter
and
Michael Lear-Olimpi
Knightly News Editor
The monarch butterfly population in the United States is threatened with extinction near the end of the century from habitat loss, particularly the decline of milkweed, experts warn.
Milkweed is vital to the butterfly at every stage of the insect’s life, from egg to larva to adult.
A decline in the population of the plant, particularly in the Midwest, is making life tough for monarchs, which lays its eggs and feeds on milkweed, according to the federal government and wildlife groups.
The monarch (Danaus Plexippus—Greek for “sleepy transformation”) is unique beyond its distinctive markings. Monarchs are the only butterfly known to make a two-way migration, as many birds do.
During the cold months, monarchs fly to Mexico and areas of the California coast, and then they return to the Northeastern part of the United States in spring.
Real threats
According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the likelihood of extinction for the eastern migratory population of monarchs—the larger of the two groups of the butterflies—ranges from 56 percent to 74 percent by 2080. In the western population, the probability exceeds 99 percent by 2080. The service reports that the eastern migratory monarch population has declined by 80 percent in recent decades and the western population by 95 percent since the 1980s.
The fish and wildlife service proposed late last year adding the monarch to the federal Endangered Species Act as being threatened. A 90-day public-comment period closed on March 12 but was extended to May 19. The monarch has not been listed as threatened or endangered in the United States. The private group Monarch Watch is following the progress and maintains a webpage for the public. Click here to see it.
According to the government, a tool known as the species-status assessment identifies main threats besides loss of milkweed to the health of the two North American migratory populations of monarchs as:
- Habitat loss (includes milkweed decline).
- Breeding degradation from interbreeding.
- Exposure to insecticides.
- Climate change.
Monarchs are also important pollinators, according to the World Wildlife Fund. Researchers say that the more people become aware of the danger to the monarch butterflies and what it takes to give them a chance for survival, the sooner their fate can change.
Milkweed is withering away
According to Keith Williams, vice president of engagement and education for the Lancaster Conservancy, milkweed in Pennsylvania is drastically declining and is one of the main factors contributing to the monarch’s possible extinction.
“Milkweed is the only plant the monarch butterfly can lay its eggs on and is the only food source for the caterpillars,” Williams said.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Monarchs choose plants from among the nine species of milkweed on which to lay their eggs because the plant contains toxins, such as glycosidic cardenolides and neurotoxins.
Caterpillars eat the milkweed and ingest the toxins, which sicken birds and other animals that eat them. The adult monarch’s brightly colored wings and black-and-white spot pattern warn predators to leave the butterfly, and the distinctly yellow-black-and-white striped caterpillars, alone.
A USDA study done with Idaho State University showed that monarchs like common milkweed (A. syriaca) and swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata).
Keith Shannon, a U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service spokesperson for the Northeast region of the United States, said not all milkweed is good for monarchs. Tropical milkweed, also known as Asclepias curassavica, for example, can harm monarchs because it has an extended blooming period and spreads diseases to the butterflies more often than other types of milkweed.
You can help
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service says milkweed should be grown on every type of land to help reverse the decline of monarchs. This includes private land, public land and rights-of-way.
The USDA suggests that people who want to help the monarch can plant a variety of milkweed the butterflies commonly deposit their eggs on. Here’s a chart from the World Wildlife Fund to help gardeners in different parts of the country identify types of milkweed monarchs like that thrives in those areas.
But gardeners should be careful. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals advises people to keep pets and livestock from eating milkweed, because it is poisonous to animals.
For guidance from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service on building a pollinator garden, click here.
To learn more and to join events, visit the Lancaster Conservancy’s website.
Comment or story idea? Contact [email protected].
Edited by Knightly News Media Club co-adviser and blog editor Professor Michael Lear-Olimpi.
