Monarch Butterfly On Bee Balm in honor of Western Monarch Day, February 5.
Monarch butterfly alert: There are concerns about the alarming decline of the western monarch population, which has plummeted by 95%, from more than 10 million in the 1980s to less than 30,000 in 2018. Insects can bounce back quickly when conditions improve, but unfortunately the numbers were not any better in 2019. A recent census of the wintering sites along the California coast revealed mostly empty trees once festooned with monarchs. The decline is due to habitat loss, pesticide use, and drought triggered by climate change. None of us can turn around those big trends individually, but what each of us can do is make our backyards and public spaces more attractive to monarchs by planting the right milkweed plants. Plant, and they will come! Monarchs can’t survive without milkweed. They need it to lay their eggs on and their caterpillars only eat milkweed plants. The monarch butterfly population is in danger because milkweed plants are disappearing, due to loss of habitat stemming from land development and the widespread spraying of weed killer on the fields where they live. We can help monarchs by growing milkweed in our yards, fields, and gardens.
Monarch On Young Crabapples
Danaus plexippus
Monarch Butterfly On Purple Loostrife
