Although the Monarch butterfly is probably our most well know butterfly, the mysteries of its incredible life have only become known since publication of an historic article in National Geographic Magazine in August, 1976. The author, Dr. Fred Urquhart, entitled his article, ‘Found At Last – The Monarch’s Winter Home’. Up until its publication no one had ever imagined that it was possible for an insect, the weight of a postage stamp, to migrate annually 2,500 miles from as far north as Canada, to central Mexico. Monarch's remarkable life starts as an egg the size of the period at the end of this sentence. That egg must be laid only on the milkweed plant. The Monarch and the milkweed plant have co-evolved over millions of years. As with all members of the butterfly family, each species has only one specific host plant that it can lay its eggs on. Depending on temperature, in about 3-6 days the egg will hatch into a caterpillar. The caterpillar’s main purpose in life is to be an eating machine. It is genetically programmed to eat and digest the leaves from its specific host plant, the milkweed. Over the next 9 – 14 days it will shed its skin 5 times. Each time it sheds its skin it will emerge larger than before until finally reaching its goal of around two inches. Because nothing is wasted in nature, the caterpillar at each shedding of its skin, will also consume its discarded old skin that provides valuable protein and nutrients! At two inches it is now ready for its next and final stage. It will travel up to 40 feet away from the milkweed plant and finds a safe place to attach itself to a twig. There it sheds its skin for the last time. The new skin underneath is green and becomes the cover of the chrysalis. In the chrysalis, the caterpillar’s body digests itself from the inside out and will completely dissolve into a pool of liquid DNA. In 9 to 14 days, it will emerge reconstituted into a totally new being, the magnificent Monarch Butterfly. What an example of metamorphosis! No wonder that the ancient Greeks and Aztecs revered this unique insect. They, like many others before and after them, marveled at how a lowly crawling caterpillar could transform itself into a magnificent, resplendent flying jewel. And yet, this is not the end but only the beginning of an incredible story. Each generation of Monarchs lives about 2 to 4 weeks. In late August, early September when the days are shorter and cooler, the Monarch that emerges from the chrysalis is different from the four to five generations that preceded it. This generation of Monarchs has a special name attached to it. It is called the Methuselah generation named after the prophet from the Old Testament that reportedly lived 900 years. It is this unique generation that will live about 5-6 months and make the arduous annual migration to central Mexico, including flying non-stop across the Gulf of Mexico. This generation of Monarchs will not sexually mature after emerging from its chrysalis but instead will drink copious amounts of nectar to fuel its 2,500 mile flight to Mexico. Its unique fate is to winter in the trees of the Oyemel Fir forests in central Mexico with millions of other Monarchs. The following February or March, as the first milkweed plants start to emerge in Mexico and reach the height of 4”, the Monarchs leave their winter roost, sexually mature, mate and lay their eggs on the milkweed plants as they head north. After laying their eggs they will die, and a new generation will be born. It will take about 3 or 4 generations before we see the Monarch in New England again in early summer. Their arrival here is timed just as our milkweed plants start to emerge. And so the cycle of the Marvelous Monarch begins again! This past winter the population of wintering Monarchs in central Mexico was at the lowest number ever recorded in the 29 years of record keeping. How much of that decline is due to the continued loss of the natural environments of milkweed plants along the eastern seaboard due to urban sprawl and to monoculture farming or to other factors such as harsh weather conditions or the use of pesticides, has yet to be determined. No matter what the cause or causes, each one of us can make a difference in the success of the Monarch by planting its host plant, the milkweed plant, in our gardens, or even pots on a balcony or patio. Look for the milkweed plant called Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa), or Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) at your favorite garden center or nursery store in June. Pick a nice sunny spot in your flower garden. This perennial plant has a long tap root and once planted cannot be easily moved. If you have a large area you can plant Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca), which has a tendency to spread. Please make sure the plants you are buying do not have the chemical insecticide neonicotinoid in the soil. This is a systemic insecticide and will affect any insect including the monarch caterpillar that eats the plant. With education comes understanding that brings appreciation and love which fosters the wish to help preserve and protect the environment and all its inhabitants so future generations can appreciate and enjoy the gifts we have today. This year you can choose to make a difference and help the Monarch butterfly increase its population by utilizing whatever property you have and plant just one milk weed plant. Note: Maria Sibylla Merian, (born 1647 in Frankfort, Germany), was a 17th century painter, entomologist and scientific adventurer. As a pioneering naturalist it was she who linked caterpillars to butterflies. She also observed and reported that caterpillars feed on host plants. Merian’s work on caterpillars showed that life arose only from life. The opposing view of that day claimed that life arose from inanimate matter,(such as flies arose from rotting meat). NOTE: This is blog #8. For complete information on how to design a butterfly garden see blog #4. The next blog is all about the invaluable services to the environment that the beaver provides and why it is a cornerstone species.
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March 2023
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