It’s an exciting time for butterfly enthusiasts.
“Scientists are beginning to see that the whole migration thing is a little different than they thought,” said Kitty Sanders, the lead volunteer for the Botanical Garden of the Ozarks’ Butterfly Garden. She’s been a volunteer for 13 years and has learned a lot about monarch butterflies while working in the garden and exploring the world.
“I was actually on Greers Ferry Lake and saw not masses of them, but a steady stream,” Sanders said. “So, it was obvious they were migrating. They were all going the same direction, and it was just steady, steady, steady. It's just amazing. Gives you chills.”
Beginning in mid-August, thousands of monarch butterflies travel through the United States to the oyamel fir forests of central Mexico. Butterflies reproduce many times during the year. Up to three generations will live in one spot of the continent—even as far north as Canada. Then, the fourth generation will emerge from chrysalises unable to breed, ready to take a trip south toward their overwintering forests.
Sanders says that a new understanding is beginning to take shape among the entomological crowd.
“They thought it was just that there were four generations of monarchs, and the fourth generation was the one that migrated down,” she said. “But now they're saying there's a fifth generation that seems to migrate partway, lay eggs—so there's a whole another generation. So we're starting to see a lot of that in northwest Arkansas. Everybody runs out of milkweed in the fall because we are getting, instead of them breeding in the Midwest, they're doing one final egg-laying here. So those then, when they pupate and emerge, will become the butterflies that migrate to Mexico.”
You can support these creatures in their journey. Planting milkweed has become almost common sense while creating habitat for pollinating insects, but Sanders recommends planting more than you might think is necessary.
“Not just one plant,” Sanders said. “And one plant will get wiped out way too fast. So you need several. Then you need to consider that they come through here in the spring and the fall, and you need to plant the right kind of nectar plants to aid them in that journey.”
She suggests fall bloomers, like asters and goldenrods. Anything native and nectaring will help the butterflies. And during this dire time for winged insects, any aid is welcome.
“The monarchs are remarkably resilient,” Sanders said. “They are suffering, and their numbers are way down, primarily due to loss of habitat. Some are concerned about climate change. A lot of the breeding ground in the Midwest is used for farming and other things. So their habitat is much less than it used to be. From what I hear, the scientists do not think they're going to be extinct. They do, however, worry very much about the drop in numbers. And what can we do in our own yards, in our own areas, to try to improve habitat for them?”
Horticulture manager at the Botanical Garden of the Ozarks, Pamela Steider, says that you can learn more about butterflies and the plants they need by attending an event at the garden. They’ll have three this season, including an International Festival this Sunday, Sept. 15, the garden’s Autumn Harvest fundraiser on Oct. 6, with the Scarecrow Showdown running from Oct. 6 through Halloween.
“I think we're excited for it to see the fall color transition, to start seeing the monarch migration coming down, and really watching the summer color wind down, but watch the new fall colors really come into show here at the gardens,” Steider said.
Ozarks at Large transcripts are created on a deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. The authoritative record of KUAF programming is the audio record.
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