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The Monarch Butterfly Migration
Posted on 4/19/19 at 8:39 am
Posted on 4/19/19 at 8:39 am
It wasn't long ago now that the monarch butterfly migration was the greatest migration event in the entire animal kingdom. Every year hundreds of millions of monarch butterflies would migrate from Canada all the way to Mexico and back in a cycle that took 5 generations to complete. A truly wonderous thing.
Except that isn't happening anymore. Well, not in numbers even close to what it once was, and it's on the verge of disappearing all together. It is a very serious concern because butterflies and the like are what pollinate our crops. Without butterflies and bees, we die.
So what's causing it? Turf lawns.
Every year the butterflies lose 2.5 million acres of habitat to our development. Housing subdivisions mostly.
The reason turf lawns are responsible for our imminent demise is because these butterflies need certain plants to survive. Plants many of our knuckledragging types consider a "weed."
Monarch butterflies need milkweeds to survive. They lay their eggs on the foliage of milkweeds. What happens next is neat. The eggs hatch out and the caterpillars begin to feed on the leaves of the milkweed plant. At the same time the caterpillars are metamorphasizing into butterflies, the milkweed plant begins to flower out. So that when the butterfly emerges from its caccoon, the plant has provided a source of nectar for the insect.
Milkweeds disappear, we may go along with it shortly after.
The more you know.
Except that isn't happening anymore. Well, not in numbers even close to what it once was, and it's on the verge of disappearing all together. It is a very serious concern because butterflies and the like are what pollinate our crops. Without butterflies and bees, we die.
So what's causing it? Turf lawns.
Every year the butterflies lose 2.5 million acres of habitat to our development. Housing subdivisions mostly.
The reason turf lawns are responsible for our imminent demise is because these butterflies need certain plants to survive. Plants many of our knuckledragging types consider a "weed."
Monarch butterflies need milkweeds to survive. They lay their eggs on the foliage of milkweeds. What happens next is neat. The eggs hatch out and the caterpillars begin to feed on the leaves of the milkweed plant. At the same time the caterpillars are metamorphasizing into butterflies, the milkweed plant begins to flower out. So that when the butterfly emerges from its caccoon, the plant has provided a source of nectar for the insect.
Milkweeds disappear, we may go along with it shortly after.
The more you know.
4
Posted on 4/19/19 at 8:48 am to BoarEd
Post also serves to illustrate that certain things we consider "weeds" are actually vitally important to our ecosystem.
As one famous author once said, "the difference between a weed and a flower is a judgment."
As one famous author once said, "the difference between a weed and a flower is a judgment."
Posted on 4/19/19 at 11:06 am to BoarEd
I have 100+ milkweed plants in my garden and I see only a very few Monarch caterpillars each year. The Monarch population is only 10% of what it was at its peak decades ago.
They're beautiful creatures. It's sad that humanity can't see that when we change the environment, we push other species into extinction.
They're beautiful creatures. It's sad that humanity can't see that when we change the environment, we push other species into extinction.
Posted on 4/19/19 at 11:23 am to Kentucker
Evolve or die, right?
Posted on 4/19/19 at 11:57 am to Kentucker
quote:
I have 100+ milkweed plants in my garden and I see only a very few Monarch caterpillars each year. The Monarch population is only 10% of what it was at its peak decades ago.
Luckily people are catching on as of late. Hopefully our efforts won't end up in vain.
Posted on 4/19/19 at 11:58 am to LittleJerrySeinfield
quote:
Evolve or die, right?
Exactly.
If we don't evolve the fricking brains to learn to coexist with the animals and insects we depend on to survive, we will die.
Posted on 4/19/19 at 2:31 pm to LittleJerrySeinfield
The plague of humans is moving so fast that other species don’t have time to evolve. Fortunately they’re not sentient beings and don’t realize what we’re doing to them. Otherwise they might attack us.
Posted on 4/19/19 at 6:05 pm to BoarEd
I've only seen news that this is one of the largest migrations in a long time.
Posted on 4/19/19 at 8:59 pm to Kentucker
quote:
Otherwise they might attack us.
Hornets and spiders have not waited to evolve sentience to initiate violence against us. Their intrinsic nature is enough. We need to wipe them out* BEFORE they become sentient and start trying to gain citizenship.
* and replace them with more docile and friendly to human civilization forms of life.
Posted on 4/19/19 at 9:27 pm to BestBanker
quote:
I've only seen news that this is one of the largest migrations in a long time.
You got a link?
Posted on 4/20/19 at 8:27 am to BoarEd
search butterfly migration 2019. You that lazy? Posted on 4/20/19 at 10:24 am to BestBanker
Well, interesting to me that you would say this. You see, it's actually part of my job to follow this stuff. I build monarch habitats.
Spring migration seems to be okay in some areas, but disappearing almost all together in others. The sites that are reporting healthy activity this season are also saying that the butterflies have started their northerly trek almost a full month early this season. I don't think that means anything other than the temps were warmer so the biological triggers got switched faster this season.
On the other hand, people on the west coast are reporting that sites that were host to many thousands of butterflies last year in some cases have ZERO this year.
At the end of the day though, the overall migration has seen, by some estimates, a NINETY FIVE PERCENT drop in overall population and it has reached a critical juncture where many people are afraid the insects will disappear all together.
And for what? So we can keep up with the Joneses with our Bermuda lawns?? It's insanity.
But like I told Kentucker earlier in the thread, people are wising up in recent years. There are a lot of people working on the project. Hopefully it continues to pick up.
Spring migration seems to be okay in some areas, but disappearing almost all together in others. The sites that are reporting healthy activity this season are also saying that the butterflies have started their northerly trek almost a full month early this season. I don't think that means anything other than the temps were warmer so the biological triggers got switched faster this season.
On the other hand, people on the west coast are reporting that sites that were host to many thousands of butterflies last year in some cases have ZERO this year.
At the end of the day though, the overall migration has seen, by some estimates, a NINETY FIVE PERCENT drop in overall population and it has reached a critical juncture where many people are afraid the insects will disappear all together.
And for what? So we can keep up with the Joneses with our Bermuda lawns?? It's insanity.
But like I told Kentucker earlier in the thread, people are wising up in recent years. There are a lot of people working on the project. Hopefully it continues to pick up.
Posted on 4/20/19 at 10:46 am to thatguy45
quote:
I did your moms link
You keep your hands off my mother! She's a saint!!
Good links, man.
Good stuff. 
Posted on 4/20/19 at 11:07 am to BoarEd
quote:
Post also serves to illustrate that certain things we consider "weeds" are actually vitally important to our ecosystem.
The average cruising airspeed velocity of an unladen European Swallow is roughly 11 meters per second, or 24 miles an hour in case you encounter any trolls on a bridge or possibly Tim.
Posted on 4/20/19 at 11:14 am to BoarEd
LINK Here's one.
LINK
LINK
I didn't indict you nor did I question your intellect or excellence in monarch butterfly fracking. All I said was the news indicates there's increase.
LINK
You ever stop to think that maybe butterflies go where the food is? California had some devastating forest fires last year. Maybe we don't give them enough credit for being an intelligent species. Maybe I'm just an idiot. I don't know.
LINK
LINK
quote:LINK
While the number of monarchs spotted in Mexico this winter was higher than anything seen in more than a decade,
I didn't indict you nor did I question your intellect or excellence in monarch butterfly fracking. All I said was the news indicates there's increase.
LINK
You ever stop to think that maybe butterflies go where the food is? California had some devastating forest fires last year. Maybe we don't give them enough credit for being an intelligent species. Maybe I'm just an idiot. I don't know.
Posted on 4/20/19 at 12:08 pm to BestBanker
I'll be anxious to see how many stop over our place on their way north here in the next few weeks. Thanks for the links, man.
I'm thrilled to see all of the new large scale projects going up. I expect we will see more and more of these types of initiatives take hold until we finally work out some more reasonable farming practices and possibly see legislation (I realize this won't be a popular sentiment) designed to regulate what sort of plants we can put in the ground. Eventually people won't keep turf lawns anymore.
ETA: I think eventually we will see more of our produce farming being done in vertical indoor configurations and we will see farmers incentivized to grow native forbs on large scale. And we will see legislation regulating what sort of plants can be used in landscaping. Also, gone will be the days (thankfully) of allowing people to run livestock anywhere near any moving water source. There will be wide buffer zones along all the waterways returning the environment to more natural waterways. These are inevitabilities.
I'm thrilled to see all of the new large scale projects going up. I expect we will see more and more of these types of initiatives take hold until we finally work out some more reasonable farming practices and possibly see legislation (I realize this won't be a popular sentiment) designed to regulate what sort of plants we can put in the ground. Eventually people won't keep turf lawns anymore.
ETA: I think eventually we will see more of our produce farming being done in vertical indoor configurations and we will see farmers incentivized to grow native forbs on large scale. And we will see legislation regulating what sort of plants can be used in landscaping. Also, gone will be the days (thankfully) of allowing people to run livestock anywhere near any moving water source. There will be wide buffer zones along all the waterways returning the environment to more natural waterways. These are inevitabilities.
This post was edited on 4/20/19 at 12:25 pm
Posted on 4/20/19 at 2:37 pm to BestBanker
quote:
You ever stop to think that maybe butterflies go where the food is? California had some devastating forest fires last year. Maybe we don't give them enough credit for being an intelligent species. Maybe I'm just an idiot. I don't know.
Also, I'm not going to say you're an idiot. That was a well thought out idea, but I think it's wrong. Two reasons really. 1. As I said in the OP, these cycles take several generations to complete. So the insects are born with a sort of genetic memory that causes them to be born with migration routes already kinda programed in their brain. I don't think they're rerouting mid way through their flight. They are rerouted right away. Headed toward Texas instead of California.
2. California experienced a record wildflower bloom this year due to those same wildfires. They haven't lost food in California. They've gained it.
Posted on 4/21/19 at 10:00 am to BoarEd
I read that the city of Fayetteville plans to install Monarch butterfly habitat on part of the 98 acres it just bought out near the west fork of the White River, near where they're building the kayak park.
Are you working on that?
Are you working on that?
Posted on 4/21/19 at 10:06 am to wmr
quote:
Are you working on that?
Nah. I'm small potatoes, man. But I have built more than a half dozen of them around NWA in the last two years. Plans so far this season to do at least two more and my 10 acres is being converted over into one large habitat. Removing field fescue as fast as I can.
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