The monarchy butterfly is in an alarming situation. Since 1996, millions of them have disappeared in North America. It’s estimated that the insects’ populations have decreased from 1 billion to approximately 30 million currently. The data was published by the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service on Monday.
The decrease is due to the application of herbicides in milkweed plants, which work as hospitals for these butterflies, in addition to acting as their home and source of food. Every spring these animals migrate from Mexico to Canada taking six generations to carry out the journey.
The U.S. government has announced that $3.2 million will be sent to save the insects. From this, $2 million will be used in projects to increase the number of milkweed plants on the main migration routes of the butterflies.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is evaluating a request made by the Center for Biological Diversity to list the monarch butterfly as a threatened species in need of special protection to survive.
Other Insects
Bees have also had casualties in recent times due to a phenomenon known as colony collapse syndrome, not yet fully explained. It is believed that it may be related to the neonicotinoid pesticide type, absorbed by all parts of the plants. Suspicions have led the European Union to ban, from July 2013, the use of these pesticides in some cultures for a period of two years, despite protests from farmers and chemical and agrifood multinationals.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.