I know, and you probably know, all pollinators are at risk: honeybees, bumble bees, all kinds of butterflies, even hummingbirds, due to loss of habitat, climate change, pesticides, and herbicides. So why such an emphasis on the monarch?
Unlike most butterflies, that have mechanisms for overwintering, the monarch butterflies cannot overwinter in cold climates. Therefore, they are one of the few species of butterfly that migrate to warmer climates for the winter. This happens all over the world. In North America, west of the Rockies, monarchs migrate to and overwinter in various locations in California. In North America east of the Rockies, however, all monarchs, originating as far north as Canada, migrate to one place only: a mountain forest in Michoacan, Mexico. This migration is considered an extraordinary and amazing natural phenomenon. Scientists still don’t really understand how the monarchs know that they need to migrate, let alone know when to leave and where to go. And how can such a fragile creature fly as far as three thousand miles?
So, if we lose the monarchs, we lose a natural phenomenon that is unique to eastern North America, as well.
Below is a beautiful documentary that I found on YouTube. It’s long but worth watching. I admit, it made me cry a couple of times.
By the way, our neighbors, Carlos and Lilly, have been to Michoacan to see the monarchs. It sounds like it was a magical experience. I need to see this natural phenomenon before it’s gone.
I am not sure that you noted the irony of the graphic above (created by Monsanto), considering that Monsanto is one of the major sources of loss of habitat for pollinators. Nice graphic, but do you think they are going to stop the habitat destruction?