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CONSERVATION
Did you know that not too long ago, approximately 88 different species of butterflies could be found in the Rouge? The key words are pests and weeds. To protect our human interests, we control these pests and weeds with toxic chemicals. It is only now we a
re realizing just how deadly our control is.
The Monarch butterfly has light brown/orange wings with black veins and white-spotted black borders. It manages an annual migration to Mexico , where it spends the winter. It feeds on the milkweed plant, which grows in fields, meadows, and along railway lines and roads. We see its greatest activity in August through September, as it prepares to migrate. The adult Monarchs have a lifespan of 30 days. Although we don't see the same Monarchs returning, the females will lay eggs along their trip, and the third generation of Monarchs arrive back North in the spring.
Unfortunately, the monarch butterfly, the Danaus plexippus , was declared a vulnerable species in 1997 by the Committee on the Status of Wildlife in Canada . Its annual migration has also been indicated an endangered phenomenon as more and more of its habitat is being destroyed in Canada and across the world.
Photo Credit: Geoff Clausen, "Monarch on Thistle"