Tag: monarch

Milkweed plants are vital for monarch butterflies and their larvae, providing nutrition to power their multi-generational migrations. Many of these plants have declined due to human development, prompting conservation organizations...

Monarch butterflies are planning to spend their winters on the coast of California in greater numbers this year, according to surveys. More than 1,300 monarchs (Danaus plexippus) were reported at...

Pre-COVID-19 pandemic, University of Ottawa biology student Megan Reich enjoyed the road trip of a lifetime, crisscrossing the East Coast of the United States in search of milkweed. The plant...

Climate change is leading to declines in hundreds of butterfly species across the American West, according to research in 11 states. Researchers found decreasing populations among both common and rare...

Butterfly researchers agree that the disappearance of milkweed in North America has harmed monarch butterflies. Monarchs rely on the plant as a host for their caterpillars. But while some scientists...

Milkweed covered in pesticide cocktails repels egg-laying monarchs and their larvae — but the extent of chemical use in some areas may leave the butterflies with no choice. “Their populations...

When monarch butterflies overwinter in central Mexico and along the California coast, they spend much of the time dormant to help with their winter survival before reproduction. Researchers recently found...

When either breeders or eager citizens raise monarch butterflies, they may be raising individuals that can’t migrate, according to new research. The idea to study the migration patterns of captive-bred...

It may seem like taking a weed wacker to perennial grasslands where monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) feed on their only food source, milkweed, is not the best idea. But researchers...

Over the last two decades, the number of monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) in North America has plummeted by approximately 90 percent — in part due to winter habitat loss in Mexico and increased...