The MONARCH BUTTERFLY - gets hit yet again and decimates the numbers

At least 1.5 million Monarch butterflies perish in deadly ice storm in Michoacán
Posted on March 13, 2016 by Monika Maeckle   
 

At least 1.5 million Monarch butterflies were hit with a deadly freeze this weekend as an unusual ice and wind storm moved through the mountains of Michoacán where the butterflies roost for the winter.   The storm hit just as the spring migration was beginning.   Luckily, many butterflies exited the mountains before the freeze arrived.
Exactly how many butterflies perished in the freeze remains uncertain. An Associated Press report sounded upbeat, with Mexican authorities stating that “Monarch butterflies that winter in the mountains west of Mexico City survived the severe cold snap that hit the area this week.”
But the Mexican news agency El Universal on Saturday quoted Homero Gómez González, president of the administrative council that oversees the El Rosario butterfly sanctuary, as saying that 1.5 Monarch butterflies froze to death–about 3% of the estimated 50 million roosting.
According to Gomez Gonazaléz, the recent freeze registered temperatures of -12 degrees Celsius (about 10 Fahrenheit). Other reports had winds raging up to 50 miles per hour, leaving 13 inches of snow on the ground in some areas and taking out dozens of trees.  Those living in the area were without electricity for days and hundreds of lamb and sheep were lost.
http://texasbutterflyranch.com/2016/03/13/at-least-1-5-million-monarch-butterflies-perish-in-deadly-ice-storm-in-michoacan/ 

We've been {including my rural area} counting the number of Monarchs that we find since the last mammoth cold snap that hit the Mexican region that the Monarch migrate to.  They are as important as the honey bees for cross-pollinating flowering vegetation! 

That is soo sad, I love butterflies and numbers have been declining over here a well.  I'm trying to put loads of shrubs like lavender, rosemary, buddleia etc in the garden to attract and feed them.

being the stickler for accuracy that I am (really) I fnd I must object to your chosen title for this post!!!!!!!!!!!!!

in it it clearly says the event reduced their numbers by about 3%

To DECIMATE is to reduce the numbers by 10%

from the roman military practice of punishing a legion by executing every 10th member......




as ben will telly precision in reporting is important

  Sooooo, it's an opinion piece and the title was of my own making and as a avid butterfly lover any time that this insect suffers such horrendous slaughter it's a DECIMATION - to me personally!

Imperiled Monarch Butterflies Get $3.2 Million From U.S ...

news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/02/150209-monarch-butterfly...
Feb 11, 2015 · The U.S. government will commit millions of dollars to the fight to save monarch butterflies ... Imperiled Monarch Butterflies Get ... wipe out 75 percent ...

Habitat Destruction May Wipe Out Monarch Butterfly ...

www.newswise.com/...wipe-out-monarch-butterfly-migration-researcher...
Apr 01, 2008 · Habitat Destruction May Wipe Out Monarch Butterfly ... conservation and education about the butterfly. Since 1992, Monarch Watch has tracked ...

Monarch Butterflies Affected by Climate Change by Lainey ...

https://prezi.com/.../monarch-butterflies-affected-by-climate-change
Monarch Butterflies Affected by Climate Change. ... Transcript of Monarch Butterflies Affected by Climate Change. ... A monarch is a type of butterfly

   SO THERE > > >

rofl......

you will have to excuse my humour....

its a trifle.........warped.....

Lord Foul wrote:rofl......

you will have to excuse my humour....

its a trifle.........warped.....

I have ZERO problem with 'SICK & TWISTED' humor; it's exactly what I grew up with --- I GET TWISTED...it's my forte 

MONARCH Butterflies have been dwindling across the globe for the past 3 or 4 decades;  (as have frogs - but that's a subject for yet another future thread..).

Monarch's migration patterns vary from one continent to another : on the US West Coast and Canada they head down to Mexico; on the East one would imagine it's the Caribbean or Central America as well as Mexico; down here, mainly up and down the East coast, from Victoria and NSW and up into Queensland, while it's also found in NZ, through the Islands and into Indonesia.. 
In Europe and Britain, I would imagine that northern and western parts of Africa would be critical breeding migration locales ?

THE MAJOR reason for the overall crash in populations would be habitat loss, as the Monarch Butterfly is solely dependant on only one genus of plant to lay it's eggs on, and for the caterpillars (larvae) to feed on --  the Milkweed herbs and shrub : Asclepias, of which there are a few dozen suitable species.       

LOSS of this habitat is probably as important as most other causes combined - such as pesticide poisoning, predators, climate changes, and extreme weather, such as those ice storms mentioned in the OP - with the main causes of habitat loss being through mass clearing for agricultural uses, and for urban growth;  and through the misuse and overuse of herbicides in general..

BUTTERFLIES are also dependant on nectar plants for food during their migrations...

FROM a pollination viewpoint, while there may be some overlap, butterflies and honeybees mostly pollinate different groups of plants (butterflies have longer tongues, and can reach into deeper flowers; honeybees have "pollen baskets" on their hind legs (pollen provides the protein requirements for honeybee larvae); and butterflies and honeybees see colours in different parts of the light spectrum).

WHILE honeybees, butterflies, moths, wasps and some birds all have some part to play in plant pollination, they are all important, and you cannot hope to replace any one group with any others -- lose these critical pollinators and you will lose thousands of species of food, herbal, fibre, ornamental and medicinal plants..