The Paper's reporter Wang Yu reported comprehensively
On 21 July 2022, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) released its latest Red List of Threatened Species. Among them, the Monarch butterfly appeared for the first time on the Red List of Threatened Species.
However, as early as 50 years ago, the monarch butterfly was the most widely known butterfly in North America, and was known for its spectacular journey through the Americas for 4,000 kilometers per year, migrating in large numbers to the point of obscuring the sky. This time on the red list means that the monarch butterfly has been officially declared at risk of extinction.
A female monarch butterfly. Wikipedia Figures
Monarch butterfly, Chinese also known as black-veined golden butterfly, monarch butterfly, is one of the most common butterflies in North America, and is also a famous migratory butterfly on Earth. Adult butterflies are brightly colored, with conspicuous orange and black markings on their wings, surrounded by a wide black border with many white spots on the cloth, which is a visual warning to predators; The lower surface of the wings is a darker orange color that helps to camouflage into bark and other substrate colors at rest to avoid predators.
Monarch butterflies migrate every year. In North America, they migrate south from August to the first frost and return north in the spring. In Australia, they make limited migrations. Females lay their eggs during migration. By October, the Rocky Mountains migrate to the temples of Michoacan, Mexico. Western tribes spend the winter in southern California.
"It's hard for people to imagine that creatures that are often present in their backyards are threatened," said Anna Walker, who led the Monarch Butterfly assessment. She is a member of the Butterfly and Moth Expert Group of the IUCN Species Survival Council and a Species Survival Officer for the New Mexico Bioparks Association.
However, the reality is that the IUCN survey found that the monarch butterfly has decreased by 23% to 72% in the past 10 years (the numerical difference depends on the specific measurement method).
Nick Haddad, a conservation biologist at Michigan State University, said: "My study is even worse, with the decline in monarch butterflies in the eastern United States by 85 to 95 percent since the 1990s." What we're worried about is the rate of descent, and it's easy to imagine how quickly this butterfly will become more dangerous. ”
Monarch butterfly eating echinacea nectar. Wikipedia Figures
The IUCN believes that the threat to the monarch butterfly comes from a variety of sources.
First, the wintering habitat of the monarch butterfly has been greatly damaged by legal and illegal logging and logging to make room for agriculture and urban development. This effect is found not only in the western populations that overwinter west of the Rocky Mountains and the coast of California, but also in eastern populations that overwinter in the eastern United States, Canada, and the fir forests of Mexico.
Second, in some summer habitats, the use of pesticides and herbicides in large quantities kills butterflies and milkweeds, the latter being the host plants for the monarch butterfly larvae. In addition, climate change poses a growing threat, with severe weather such as hurricanes and droughts becoming more frequent on the southern migration routes of butterflies. The massive wildfires in the western United States in 2020 severely affected their reproduction and migration.
Larvae that are eating swamp milkweed. Wikipedia Figures
The IUCN also found that western populations of monarch butterflies are less studied but at greater risk, with their numbers plummeting by 99.9 percent in recent decades, from about 10 million in the 1980s to 1914 in 2021. Eastern populations declined by 84% between 1996 and 2014.
Stuart Pimm, an ecologist at Duke University, said in an interview: "This is one of the most well-known butterflies in the world, but now it has been in an extinct decline, and if you don't pay attention, there is a fear of extinction."
Migrating monarch butterflies rest on pine trees. Wikipedia Figures
However, U.S. wildlife officials have yet to grant them federal protection under the Endangered Species Act. In 2020, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service found that the monarch butterfly met the criteria of the Endangered Species Act, but did not decide to add it to the list, citing other species as a priority.
This time, the IUCN evaluated only 1% of insect species, and put the monarch butterfly on the "Red List of Endangered Species", which shows its significance, in order to convey the urgent need to protect butterflies to the public and global authorities.
Anna Walker said: "It is sad to see the monarch butterfly and its extraordinary migration on the brink of collapse, but there is still hope for us. From growing native milkweed and reducing pesticide use, to protecting wintering sites and contributing to community science, we have a role to play in ensuring that this iconic insect is fully restored. ”
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