Animals that consume a narrow diet are much more
vulnerable than those eat a varied diet. While the honey bee derives its
nutrition from many flower sources, the larvae of another insect, the monarch
butterfly, relies solely upon one, the milkweed plant. Recent years have seen
dramatic declines in the number of monarch butterflies. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
writes in the Chicago Tribune, http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ct-monarch-butterfly-herbicide-kennedy-perspec-102-20141021-story.html,
that this past summer he saw no monarch butterflies in an area where he saw
hundreds per day in previous years. Kennedy explains that scientists blame the loss
of monarch butterflies in part on deforestation in Mexico, drought, climate
change. However, the greatest cause of this migrating butterfly’s disappearance
is the widespread use of the herbicide glyphosate, first marketed by Monsanto
as Roundup. When Monsanto introduced “Roundup Ready” corn and soybeans in the
late 1990s, farmers started spraying agricultural fields with the herbicide to
kill everything except the desired crop. As a result of this change in farming
practice, milkweed has been largely eliminated from much of America’s crop
lands. To combat the loss of the monarch’s food, Kennedy suggests that we plant
milkweed to create a “butterfly highway” along the monarch’s migratory route
from the U.S. and Canada to Mexico. These plantings fit in nicely with efforts
to help save bees, butterflies, and other at-risk pollinators.
The monarch’s treacherous migration of 2500 miles involves
several generations. Butterflies east of the Rockies fly to Mexico to spend the
winter, and monarchs west of the Rockies winter in California. The Arkansas
Democrat Gazette illustrates their migration route through Arkansas at http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2014/oct/25/milkweed-and-monarchs-20141025/.
Those wanting to provide milkweed for the passing butterflies can find sources
of seed from the Xerces Society at http://www.xerces.org/milkweed-seed-finder/. The monarch, considered by some as the most
beautiful insect may respond to plantings of its required food in pollinator
gardens. With flowers added, these gardens are important food plots for honey
bees and native pollinators as well.
--Richard
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