On October 16, 2014, Partners Biologist Catherine Yeargan and Steve Arey from the Service’s Arlington ESFO visited a Partners Project in Hunt County, Texas, to collect green milkweed pods/seeds for our outdoor classrooms/pollinator gardens. While at the site, Steve and Catherine were able to capture video of the Monarch butterflies that were working over spiny aster.
The Service was recently petitioned to list Monarch butterflies under the Endangered Species Act as threatened. At its high in the winter of 1996-1997, there were a billion Monarchs. Today, there are only about 35 million Monarchs, a reduction of 90 percent.
One reason the Monarch butterfly is declining is that milkweed – the host plant for the Monarch - is disappearing from the landscape. Milkweed has been impacted by urban sprawl and development as well as land-use practices such as farming with crops genetically modified to resist herbicides. The Service is encouraging efforts to collect and sow of milkweed in an effort to help the Monarch.
