Invite a Butterfly to lunch
The Monarch butterfly. Deals with the crossroads of fate, good luck beautiful butterfly.
The butterflies migrate every winter to the mountains of
Michoacan (pronunciation: Mit-oa'kan), Mexico.
Want to do your part to help reverse the dramatic decline in monarch butterflies?
Now’s your chance: Plant milkweed.
Want to do your part to help reverse the dramatic decline in monarch butterflies?
The spring migration begins in mid-March and extends from the monarch’s winter home in central Mexico as far as 2,500 miles north to breeding grounds in the eastern United States and Canada. The butterflies, which cannot survive freezing temperatures, return to the high-elevation Mexican forests in the fall. Monarchs use about 30 of these as hosts. About four of these species – Asclepias incarnata (swamp milkweed), Asclepias syriaca (common milkweed), Asclepias tuberosa (butterfly weed) and Asclepias viridis (green antelope horn) – sustain 98 percent of the eastern population of monarchs.”
Monarchs are dependent on milkweed, especially milkweeds in the genus Asclepias. Milkweed is the only plant on which monarchs will lay their eggs and on which monarch caterpillars will feed. By starting milkweed from seed indoors or buying nursery seedlings for your early spring plantings, you can create your own "Monarch Waystations." Large-scale research projects, believes Monarch Waystations are critical to helping monarch butterflies survive what is one of the most fascinating migrations in the natural world.
Pipevine Swallowtail
Gulf Fritary
