Winged Musings: Monarch Butterflies Are in Trouble

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Monarch Butterflies Are in Trouble - Please Read

Sipping Nectar from a Butterfly Bush Bloom

Monarch Butterflies are the bright orange and black beauties that we think of most often when we imagine a butterfly in our mind or sketch it on paper. They are the most recognizable of all butterflies, and their striking colors captivate us and draw us towards them to take a closer look. Butterflies in general appear magical, like flying flowers, as they are so often referred to. They are dainty and flutter so gracefully from flower to flower, we cannot help but be mesmerized by their mere appearance, and feel honored to be in their presence.

Sipping Nectar from a Milkweed Bloom

These wonderfully alluring creatures make quite a trip each year around October. They take off from the gardens on the east coast and make their way to Mexico. Monarchs have only ONE host plant and that is Milkweed (Asclepias). We used to see it in abundance in wooded areas in our own backyards and along the roadways and forests. Tall stalks with large elongated leaves rounded at the tips, which produce clusters of mauvy flowers in late spring/early summer. Once the flowers have expired, the plant forms pods filled with seeds. When the pods split open, masses of seeds attached to coma (silk-like material), are exposed and carried away by the wind, much like the dandelion. NOW, since a majority of our woodlands are being wiped out to make way for houses, housing developments, shopping malls, etc., the milkweed plants are few and far between. Not enough available for the adult Monarch to lay her eggs and begin the cycle.