Archive
WORRIES FOR THE PRINCE OF ORANGE
29/02/2024
There can be few naturalists or ecologists who do not know about the monarch butterfly – a nymphalid reputedly named after the English monarch, William III, the Prince of Orange. The monarch is a widespread species and even a rare migrant to the UK but, although not all populations are migratory, it is most famous for the huge numbers of North American and Canadian populations that make extraordinary multi-generational[1] migrations to the montane coniferous forests west of Mexico City. It is in Mexico that worries have emerged about falling numbers in recent years.
The number of endangered monarch butterflies at their wintering areas in Mexico has dropped by 59% this year to the second lowest level since record keeping began, lepidopterists have said, blaming pesticide use and climate change.
[1] Individual butterflies, long distance fliers though they are, do not make the whole round trip.
According to the Commission for National Protected Areas of Mexico, this fall in numbers is part of trend which has been continuing for some years now, with the lowest recorded level being in 2013. As so often these days, climate change seems to be a principal cause with its associated higher temperatures, droughts and storms. Logging and over-intensive farming with associated excessive use of herbicides and pesticides are also considered to be important adverse impacts.
One solution proposed is the creation of a safe migration corridor for the butterflies, a project being promoted by Humberto Peña who is head of Mexico’s protected areas. There are also reports that logging and deforestation in the Mexican monarch habitat areas has fallen in recent years, which is good news.
At Betts Ecology we don’t have monarch butterflies on our UK sites, but we have dozens of other butterfly species (and even more species of moths), which we protect, promote and care for. We do this by avoiding harmful pesticides and herbicides as well as by fostering high quality habitat with the foodplants the insects need for ovipositing and food for their larvae, and by ensuring that there is a good supply of nectar through the seasons provided by a species-rich flora.
