Monarch Butterfly Cycle And Their Incredible Journey
In our busy lives we often ignore the beauty of the miraculous life around us. The transformation of the monarch caterpillars is one these amazing aspects of life.
The video documents the cycle of the monarch butterfly from egg to caterpillar, to cocoon, to emerging, to flying, and then migration.
Migration is a big part of he monarch butterfly’s life and every year hundreds of millions of monarch butterflies migrate from as far Canada and northern part of America to the forests of Mexico.
The numbers of monarch butterflies have been on the decline for the last 15 years because herbicides used to protect GMO crops like corn and soybean have been killing of milkweed at an alarming rate.
Milkweed is the monarch caterpillar’s natural food source and with the decline of milkweed, there has been a decline in the number of monarch butterflies.
It is interesting to see that the monarch caterpillars in the video have resorted to eating plants not normal to their diet and even developed a cocoon attached to a rock.
Milkweed And The Monarch
The monarch butterfly population has been on the decline. This is attributed primarily to the loss of milkweed, which is the primary food source for the monarch caterpillar.
Milkweed is being destroyed at an incredible rate by the heavy use of herbicides used to protect GMO crops.
GMO herbicide resistant crops like corn and soybean are treated heavily with pesticides that efficiently destroy milkweed.
The decline in milkweed has also resulted in the decline of the monarch caterpillar’s food source. Monarch caterpillars are hungry little critters and the loss of milkweed severely impacts their ability to survive.
Monarch butterfly numbers have severely decreased in the last 15 year in the U.S., but the 2013-2014 are of great concern.
Monarchs covered on average 6.39 hectares in their wintering grounds in Mexico form 1994-2014. Thy only covered 0.67 hectares during the 2013-2014 winter season, which is almost 10 times smaller than the average coverage.
