The iconic monarch butterfly has been listed as Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), a global authority on the conservation status of species. An endangered listing means the species is likely to go extinct without significant intervention. The listing of migratory monarchs (Danaus plexippus plexippus) on IUCN Red List of Threatened […]
Tag: Milkweed
Western monarch butterflies are nearly extinct. California has a plan to save them
In one of the biggest mobilizations of resources and talent ever organized to save an insect, the state of California is teaming with conservation groups, biologists and scores of citizen scientists to rescue the western monarch butterfly from the brink of extinction. To do this, they are placing their hopes on an unassuming, poisonous plant […]
Petition: Monarch Butterfly Denied Protection by Trump Administration
Despite a rapidly declining population and an important ecological niche, the U.S Fish and Wildlife service voted against listing the Monarch Butterfly as “Threatened” under the Endangered Species Act on Tuesday. A change in its status may have led to increased protective measures for the species and its habitat. The US Fish and Wildlife Service […]
Petition: Western Monarch Butterflies Near Extinction With Less than 2000 Reported in this Year’s Thanksgiving Count
The state of our planet’s pollinators took a big blow in 2020. The annual Thanksgiving count of Western Monarch butterflies this year by the Xerces Society yielded less than 2000 individuals, a tragic threshold that has experts worried about the future of the species. In the 1980s, as many as 3 to 10 million Monarch […]
Storms devastate monarch butterflies’ habitat in Mexico
Storms earlier this year blew down more than a hundred acres of forests where migrating monarch butterflies spend the winter in central Mexico, killing more than 7% of the monarchs, according to conservationists. Rain, cold and high winds from the storms caused the loss of 133 acres (54 hectares) of pine and fir trees in […]
Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca)
Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) is one of my favorite plants for its globe of sweet florets and the bounty of butterflies, bees, and other creatures it attracts. Within a milkweed stand there is a large community being nourished along with any onlooker’s imagination. A weed of milk . . . common milkweed is abundant in beauty and […]