musillid
1327758167
Posted 1392324798
Reply with quote #1
Can't believe it: http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2014/0129/Is-the-annual-Monarch-butterfly-migration-coming-to-an-end Asclepia seeds.
aphahn
1354927274
Posted 1392326468
Reply with quote #2
Thanks for posting that Dale.http://www.prairiemoon.com/seeds/wildflowers-forbs/asclepias-purpurascens-purple-milkweed.html
Scion List
schaplin
1392175246
Posted 1392330476
Reply with quote #3
I've always had some milkweed in the garden. I remember one year when the caterpillars decided to move onto my orchids to form pupa's. I must have had 20 or more and it was beautiful. Once I find my new house and land there will always be room for them.
schaplin
1392175246
Posted 1392331140
Reply with quote #4
There will also be parsley for the black swallowtails and pawpaw for the zebras and a bunch of other stuff too
bullet08
1284496248
Posted 1392338924
Reply with quote #5
that is a shame. so many things are slowly disappearing.
gorgi
1188888396
Posted 1392339491
Reply with quote #6
Me too do grow some nice late blooming perennial milkweed plants in my front yard.
Aaron4USA
1375832059
Posted 1392342369
Reply with quote #7
my Passion Flower vine is always home to Monarchs...all year long.
schaplin
1392175246
Posted 1392343927
Reply with quote #8
I have only seen the caterpillars on actual milkweed plants. It seems like sometimes every plant had one and other times I had to look very hard to find even one. One year there were hundreds. When I harvest the parsley I always move the black swallowtail caterpillars to the plants I set aside for them. I used to keep sweet gum trees planted just for the moths too.
schaplin
1392175246
Posted 1392346490
Reply with quote #9
A lot of butterflies are in trouble so here's a website that list plants that provide nectar for adults or food for the caterpillars. There are a lot of sources for the plant but this is a nice list. http://www.butterflybushes.com/index.htm Butterfly bushes can be invasive so plant with care but she has a great list.
musillid
1327758167
Posted 1392348210
Reply with quote #10
Not so slow, Pete. And I am having deja vu . When I was a kid, goldfinches would darken the sky in huge flocks, then, suddenly, no more huge flocks. Of course, I did not know then that I was witnessing "Silent Spring." Now the same for monarchs? I fear that we are becoming impoverished of natural beauty.
drphil69
1390113240
Posted 1392352989
Reply with quote #11
The article provacatively poses the question... Is it coming to an end? It then reveals that *gasp* lowest numbers since they began studying... in 1993. A species that has been around 100s or 1000s of years... one low number out of 20 years of study.. hardly reason for concern.
Matt_from_Pittsburgh
1232252573
Posted 1392353209
Reply with quote #12
For anyone who's interested in invertebrate conservation, check out the Xerces Society: http://www.xerces.org/
milehighgirl
1382109709
Posted 1392353312
Reply with quote #13
Well, this may be OT but there were more than a dozen robins (all male) drinking run off from our last snow. I have never seen robins in Denver in January in 50 years. Very weird things are happening everywhere.
MichaelTucson
1333340598
Posted 1392354852
Reply with quote #14
Quote:
Originally Posted by drphil69
not "one low number out of 20 years of study", as you suggest. It is a continuing trend, and there was analysis of statistical significance. Did you see the magnitude of the numerical decline cited as well? I haven't studied this situation, nor read the actual studies about which this article was written. But I did read the article that is linked, and your comments seem like blind denial to me.Pauca sed matura.
MichaelTucson
1333340598
gorgi
1188888396
Posted 1392362515
Reply with quote #16
On the other side of the coin - the arctic Snowy Owl is in the news.
