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#bioPGH Blog: Monarchs in Winter
A resource of Biophilia: Pittsburgh, #bioPGH is a weekly blog and social media series that aims to encourage both children and adults to reconnect with nature and enjoy what each of our distinctive seasons has to offer.
In the last few weeks, it’s finally started to feel like winter weather is here. Cold winds have been blustery, my fleece blanket has been so inviting, and there is even snow on the ground as I’m typing! I could help but wonder, though, since monarch butterflies are currently in the headlines for their possible inclusion as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, what are our own monarch butterflies currently experiencing as a part of their winter time life? We know it’s definitely not snow! Let’s check out our snowbird butterfly’s plans, shall we?
Many butterflies can overwinter as eggs or by going dormant as larvae or pupae. Our monarch butterflies here in North America, though, cannot tolerate the cold, and their solution is quite a drastic one: migrate up to 3,000 miles to Mexico! Monarch butterflies from across the United States and Canada make their way south to a handful or forests in Mexico every year, creating the most wondrous scene that I someday hope to see:
One of the secrets to a monarch’s migratory success sits with the Methuselah generation. Most adult monarch butterflies live only 2-6 weeks; over the summers here in Pennsylvania, we see multiple generations of butterflies. The last generation of the summer, however, can live several months as an adult. This last generation, dubbed the “Methuselah” generation, after a long-lived Biblical figure, begins the long journey to Mexico to overwinter. As spring approaches, the individuals of this generation find a mate before beginning their trek back northward. However, those adults themselves will not make it back to their summer origins; instead, they will lay the eggs that will ultimately grow up to ultimately continue the journey. That new generation of adults will similarly lay eggs that will continue northward, depending on where their grandparents came from.
As incredible as this species is, though, their numbers have alarmingly declined. The population of monarchs in eastern North America has declined as much as 80% since the mid-1990’s. Cause behind the decline include habitat loss, pesticide use, and impacts of climate change. In response, this week the US Fish and Wildlife Service announced a proposal to list monarchs as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. (More information and access to public comment on this proposal is available here.)
There are also things all of us at home can do to protect monarch butterflies!
- Plant flower beds or container gardens. Include a blend of native flowering plants that will bloom from April – September (e.g., milkweed, beebalms, coneflowers, asters, etc.) And don’t forget our eco-region milkweeds: common milkweed, swamp milkweed, butterfly milkweed, poke milkweed.
- Avoid pesticides
- Act on climate change
- Support protection of greenspaces – our butterflies need as much habitat all along their migration route as possible!
- Keep learning! The more we know, the more we can act. Plus, who doesn’t want to be the person at the holiday party with all the cool bug facts?
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