Does Lack of Milkweed Adequately Explain a Decline in Monarch Butterflies?
Credit: JOANNA GILKESON / USFWS / CREATIVE COMMONS
By Patrick Skahill, WNPR
Every year, monarch butterflies make an amazing journey from Canada and New England all the way down to Mexico.
It’s an ecological wonder celebrated by all three countries — but recently, scientists have noticed a dip in the number of butterflies making the trip. Climate change and severe weather could be threatening the migration — what’s been seen as the primary driver is a lack of milkweed plants, which are vital food for the insects.
A controversial new paper is now questioning that theory.