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The Fall of the Monarch Butterfly
The Monarch Butterfly May Soon Be Protected By The U.S. Endangered Species Act
12/30/14
(Reuters) - Monarch butterflies may warrant U.S. Endangered Species Act protection because of farm-related habitat loss blamed for sharp declines in cross-country migrations of the orange-and-black insects, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said on Monday.
Monarch populations are estimated to have fallen by as much as 90 percent during the past two decades because of destruction of milkweed plants they depend on to lay their eggs and nourish hatching larvae, according to the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation.
The loss of the plant is tied to factors such as increased cultivation of crops genetically engineered to withstand herbicides that kill native vegetation, including milkweed, the conservation group says.
Monarchs, unique among butterflies for the regularity and breadth of their annual migration, are also threatened by widespread pesticide use and logging of mountain forests in central Mexico and coastal California where some of them winter, said biologist Karen Oberhauser at the University of Minnesota...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/30/monarch-butterfly-endangered_n_6393100.html?utm_hp_ref=green
12/30/14
(Reuters) - Monarch butterflies may warrant U.S. Endangered Species Act protection because of farm-related habitat loss blamed for sharp declines in cross-country migrations of the orange-and-black insects, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said on Monday.
Monarch populations are estimated to have fallen by as much as 90 percent during the past two decades because of destruction of milkweed plants they depend on to lay their eggs and nourish hatching larvae, according to the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation.
The loss of the plant is tied to factors such as increased cultivation of crops genetically engineered to withstand herbicides that kill native vegetation, including milkweed, the conservation group says.
Monarchs, unique among butterflies for the regularity and breadth of their annual migration, are also threatened by widespread pesticide use and logging of mountain forests in central Mexico and coastal California where some of them winter, said biologist Karen Oberhauser at the University of Minnesota...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/30/monarch-butterfly-endangered_n_6393100.html?utm_hp_ref=green
GMOs & greed really suck.
8 replies
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= new reply since forum marked as read
Last edited Fri Jan 2, 2015, 04:40 PM - Edit history (1)
Milkweed one-stop for all your planting and growing info needs
Part I - info and ordering
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=978999
Part II - migration and monarch info
It's time to start planning your milkweed seed sowing.
It takes a minimum of 60 days for seeds to have a plant large enough to support a caterpillars' food needs. You can raise our tropical Milkweed in pots inside your home or greenhouse, and it should survive the winter. If you live in a northern climate and see snow, then request the Speciosia variety of milkweed seed, as it survives the winter's cold. - LiveMonarch.com
Fall migration
Spring migration
Multiple Generations
Generation 1 monarchs are the offspring of the monarchs who overwintered in Mexico. Each successive generation travels farther north. It will take 3-4 generations to reach the northern United States and Canada.- USDA.GOV
Generation 1 monarchs are the offspring of the monarchs who overwintered in Mexico. Each successive generation travels farther north. It will take 3-4 generations to reach the northern United States and Canada.- USDA.GOV
