Scientists say the butterflies are at critically low levels in western states because of destruction to their milkweed habitat along their migratory route as housing expands into their territory and use of pesticides and herbicides increases. Researchers also have noted the effect of climate change.

Butterflies are not only beautiful creatures, but do a great deal for the environment. Like bees, they are plant pollinators, and they provide population control for a number of plant and even insect species by eating them. They also serve as sustenance for other species.

For the plant world, butterflies pollinate or carry pollen from plant to plant, helping fruits, vegetables, and flowers to produce new seeds. From the animal point of view, butterflies are near the bottom of the food chain and provide food (especially in their caterpillar stage) for birds, mammals, and other insects.

Therefore, if monarchs are in trouble because they don’t have enough habitat, then many of our other pollinators and wildlife that share their habitat are in trouble as well. The declining monarch population parallels other declining pollinator populations, which in turn impacts human food systems.

On December 15, 2020, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced that listing the monarch as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act is warranted, but precluded by higher priority listing actions.

How will protection under the Endangered Species Act help monarchs? Protection under the act will make it illegal to intentionally kill monarchs or modify their habitat without a permit. It will also lead to designation and protection of “critical habitat” to help recover abundant monarch populations.

2 to 6 weeks

Predators such as spiders and fire ants kill and eat monarch eggs and caterpillars. Some birds and wasps feed on adult butterflies. These predators are easy to see, but monarchs also suffer attacks from parasites, organisms that live inside the monarchs’ bodies.

In a recent study, published in the journal Biology Letters, Davis found that the single-largest cause of monarch mortality is roadways, where some 25 million butterflies die each year—often run over or caught in windshields or grills.

How to tell if your Monarch has Black Death: Your caterpillar may be fine one day and the next start to become lethargic, start to deflate, refuse to eat and start to turn a darker color. Sometimes their chrysalises will turn dark brown or they pupate and then liquefy into a black goo.

A new study suggests that extensive agricultural use of glyphosate herbicide is to blame for the decades-long decline in North America’s monarch butterfly population. Cremer subsequently writes that the study results “bolster the ‘milkweed limitation hypothesis.

Well, the former kills the latter and the latter kills the former. In plain English, herbicides kill plants (usually weeds), in this case the milkweed host plant of monarchs, while insecticides kill monarchs directly. Two ways that pesticides (herbicides versus insecticides) may harm monarch butterflies.

Butterflies are vanishing in the western U.S.—but not for the reasons scientists thought. Earth is in the midst of an insect apocalypse, with thousands of species dwindling over the past several decades. Scientists have often blamed habitat loss or pesticide use. Scientists already know some butterflies are in trouble.

But some bacteria also use this enzyme, including a microbiome found in the intestines of most bees. When pollinators come in contact with glyphosate, the chemical reduces this gut bacteria, leaving bees vulnerable to pathogens and premature death.

‟Mix one part dish soap to four parts water in [a] spray bottle. Spray all bees … with this solution. The soap-water solution will kill the bees but doesn’t leave a harmful residue like an insecticide. Spray every bee until no bees return for at least one day.”