I am looking forward to the fragrance of milkweed while walking this spring.
I keep a wild space in my yard for monarch butterflies. I can’t imagine children not being raised watching the caterpillars eat the milkweed and grow, then to magically transform to a chrysalis of green and gold, again transform in color then suddenly a butterfly emerges. Every year we collect and scatter seeds in our wild area. Last year it was so fragrant to walk through. We were raised watching the magic and raised our children with the joys of raising a monarch.
But will they be around within another generation or two? The monarch butterfly population has dropped significantly. In Mexico the butterflies at one time covered 50% more acres of habitat and are now down to covering only 2.9 acres. In the past their winter habitat was disrupted by logging in Mexico, thankfully the land is now protected, but in the United States our large-scale farming operations and use of herbicides are most likely the results of the such a dramatic loss. Milkweeds are thought to be poisonous to cows and sheep.
There are other factors including competitive habitat. For several years I have noted less and less successful monarch hatchings in my region of Northern Michigan. In my backyard see it due to a beetle infestation on the milkweed. We find the chrysalis case with a hole bored into the side, and the butterfly never emerges. I am not sure what bug does this. There has been a large increase in red milkweed beetles. The appropriately named beetle is the most common that feed on milkweeds. I just learned the beetle larvae live in milkweed roots from late summer until the following July. The beetles create competition for the only food source for the monarch butterflies.
Another challenge to the Monarch’s habitat is the crowding out of the milkweed habitat by invasive species. Spotted knapweed has crowded out much of the habitat in Northern Michigan. I suspect few who visit the area understand the issue and most likely admire the beautiful purple fields Locally the paper has even published pictures of fields of purple unknowing it is invasive species that has crowded out the native plant life and our wildlife such as the monarch’s.
Spotted Knapweed
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Please consider practice Stewardship to the land of your favorite trails.
It isn’t going to be easy but I ask any fellow trail loving folks out there to do your part to encourage milkweed habitat. Learn about the invasive species in your area. Work with your community to eradicate invasive species. If you have a conservation district where you live most likely this is a good place, to begin with as can work within the local community resources to address the issues, or provide financial. They will most likely already have teams prepared to address invasive species, community education, native plant sales, and working with your local farming community to maintain areas of suitable habitat and land preservation.
In case you wondered this was reblogged from my personal blog https://allthosetrails.wordpress.com/