Monarch Butterflies: Endangered Species at Risk of Extinction

[dlgoff]

I've been seeing some Monarch Butterflies flying over my place today.

edit: From https://news.mongabay.com/2022/07/monarch-butterflies-are-officially-endangered/

• The iconic monarch butterfly has been listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, meaning the species is likely to go extinct without significant intervention.

 

[berkeman]

Nice! The East Bay Area here in Silicon Valley has some areas that see migrations of Monarchs...

Monarch butterflies find winter refuge in East Bay Parks​

https://pioneerpublishers.com/monarch-butterflies-find-winter-refuge-in-east-bay-parks/
(sorry for all the advertisements!)

 

[pinball1970]

Nice! The East Bay Area here in Silicon Valley has some areas that see migrations of Monarchs...

Monarch butterflies find winter refuge in East Bay Parks​

View attachment 314175
https://pioneerpublishers.com/monarch-butterflies-find-winter-refuge-in-east-bay-parks/
(sorry for all the advertisements!)

Beautiful colours.

 

[BillTre]

Monarch butterflies are endangered, due to habitat loss.
If you like the Monarch butterflies, plant milkweed plants for them.
They lay their eggs on them and they are exclusive food for their larvae.
They get a toxin from the plants which makes them unpalatable for predators.

Monarch caterpillars feed exclusively on the leaves of milkweed, the only host plant for this iconic butterfly species. As such, milkweed is critical for the survival of monarchs. Without it, they cannot complete their life cycle and their populations decline.

Indeed, eradication of milkweed both in agricultural areas as well as in urban and suburban landscapes is one of the primary reasons that monarchs are in trouble today.