Western Monarch Butterflies move closer to extinction

[applestar]

Monarch butterfly population moves closer to extinction - ABC News

An annual winter count by the Xerces Society recorded fewer than 2,000 butterflies

...80% decline in eastern monarch butterfly population since mid-1990’s...

[TomatoNut95]

This is sad. Is there anything other than Milkweed that Monarchs like? I had hoped to have a small flower bed this year especially for the bees and butterflies. (And hummingbirds)

[imafan26]

I think people must be sending them to Hawaii. So many people are planting crown flowers there is no shortage of them here. The migration issue with the monarchs is partly a climate change issue but also government policy as one of the border states along the migration route campaigned to eliminate a noxious milkweed that sustains the monarch population on its annual migration.

There are so many people here wanting to protect the butterflies because of what they hear about the plight of the monarchs on the mainland. The truth is, that the monarchs are having a party here and they have a lot of food and they do not migrate. However they got here, they cannot travel back across the Pacific on their own and they don't have to. There is plenty of food for them year round here and people are deliberately planting crown flower just for them. Monarch caterpillars feed exclusively on the milkweed family, but the adults, like bees and other beneficial insects live on nectar and pollen flowers.

[applestar]

I had to look up Hawaiian crown flower — to me the flower cluster looks like looser version of milkweed, including general look of individual flowers....? I’m guessing the flowers are bigger since it is also called *Giant* Milkweed.

Monarch butterflies like nectar-rich multiple-flower cluster-type flowers for adults to drink nectar from. Milkweed certainly has the requisite type of flowers and they do feed from them when in bloom — any of the subspecies, but as Imafan said, the primary reason to plant milkweed is for them to lay eggs for their babies to feed on. In my garden, other flowers that the monarchs preferentially drink from are large-faced daisy-like flowers like echinacea, zinnia, tithonia, sunflowers ... and other clustered flowers like mint, garlic chives, Joe Pye weed, and a favored shrub is Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis) ....

I think other flowers that they like include lantana and pincushion flower, for example (those are not easy to grow here except as bedding annuals.... I don’t have them but I suppose asters and ironweed should be among the northern favorites... oh and liatris — I think I lost mine — have to see if I can bring the one wimpy crown back to life or start or buy more.

[imafan26]

Crown flower is a giant milkweed. It is a large shrub or tree up to 20 ft tall. It is not as invasive as other milkweeds like other asclepias. The flowers are used to make lei. It is the favorite food plant of monarchs and anyone who has one in the yard will have it be ravaged bare by butterflies in the summer. In fact people have to protect young plants in a cage so it has a chance to get big enough before the caterpillars devour it. Butterflies are not as fussy about the nectar flowers although different butterfly species do have their favorites. They have longer tongues than honeybees so they like things like red tubular flowers that bees cannot really see. They also like things like honeysuckle, and other vine flowers that have a trumpet shape, tithonia, alyssum, penta, morning glory, and all the flowers in the labaiatae and composite families. Unfortunately they particularly like the cabbages.

I did have a butterfly bush, but I had to get rid of it. It smells very sweet and I like the deep violet purple flowers but I could not keep the butterflies away with it in the yard. They don't eat the leaves of the butterfly bush, they only come for the nectar, but they will go after the kale instead.

The other common butterfly I see is the passion butterfly that likes to hang around passion fruit vines. Actually it is a Gulf Fritillary. Still looks like a butterfly to me. If your passion fruit isn't making fruit, you probably don't have these guys around.

Fiery skippers and the cabbage white butterflies are pests. I have sphinx moths as well, but beside being big and scary, they don't do nearly as much damage in my yard.

Lantana does attract a lot of pollinators including bees and butterflies. Problem is that it is very invasive. The newer cultivars of lantana were bred to be seedless so they are of little value as they do not provide pollen (protein) source for pollinators. I am not sure if they have nectar and these are unscented. The problem with pollinators, their favorite plants are actually weeds and they help pollinate and spread the weeds.

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