Monarch butterflies recovering, says Sudbury entomologist — and you might be helping
A retired entomologist from Laurentian University is crediting efforts large and small in the recovery of the world's best-known butterfly.
- Monarch butterflies make big comeback
- Science North nurturing milkweed to attract monarch butterflies
- Monarch butterfly decline linked to spread of GM crops
Monarch butterflies have just left Mexico for their long trip north, and Dr. Joe Shorthouse said after years of hardship — due to the control of milkweed by herbicides, among other things — it seems the orange and black beauties are bouncing back.
Shorthouse said the fact that North American governments were paying attention to certain habitat protection made an immeasurable difference.
Monarchs from Canada and the US spend three to four months over-wintering on select Mexican mountaintops before migrating north again.
Without those forests, "that would eliminate monarchs for all of North America," Shorthouse said.
"But Mexico, along with the governments of United States and Canada, recognized how important those forests were," he said.
"And the Mexicans in particular have turned them into protected sites, such that no further lumber or tree removal is occurring, thus protecting the over-wintering monarch population."
Countless other helping hands seem to be sowing the seeds for the monarch recovery, as well, Shorthouse noted.
Many people have been planting milkweed to help revive the Monarch butterfly population. The leaves of the milkweed plant are the only place that monarchs lay their eggs and the only food that monarch butterfly caterpillars will eat.
"There's no question that that's a key factor," he said. "School children, nature groups, citizen groups throughout North America have become enthralled by this monarch story, and the fear of losing them from our lives."
Listen to the complete interview with Dr. Joe Shorthouse here.
