Gardener News 16 Mount Bethel Road #123 Warren, NJ 07059
TAKE ONE April, 2015
FIRST-CLASS MAIL U.S. POSTAGE PAID HILLSBOROUGH, NJ PERMIT NO. 4444
Gardener News Serving the Agricultural, Gardening and Landscaping Communities GARDENERNEWS.COM
TAKE ONE No. 144
Help Save the Beloved Monarch Butterfly The beautiful orange and black Monarch butterfly is one of the best-known threatened butterfly species in North America. According to some of the latest surveys, over 90 percent of the population has disappeared in the last decade, mostly due to loss of habitat. No one understands how this lovely insect can remember over four or five generations where to migrate. Different populations will travel from western Canada to central California or from eastern Canada, through the Midwest, and southern U.S. and ultimately to central Mexico and back again. The life cycle of the Monarch is complex and amazing. First, the female lays its eggs on the underside of the leaves of a milkweed plant. After three to five days, the eggs hatch and the larvae (or baby caterpillars) feed on the leaves. Over the next nine to 15 days, the caterpillars will molt five times, increasing in mass 2,000 times, shedding its skin each time it molts. It then pupates and spends nine to 14 days as a chrysalis. When fully developed, the adult butterflies emerge and feed on the nectar of many different flowers as they continue to fly north during the next two to six weeks. National Garden Bureau/Photo
(Continued on Page 17)