Prevalence of monarch (Danaus plexippus) and queen (Danaus gilippus) butterflies in West Texas during the fall of 2018

BMC Ecology
Matthew Z BrymRonald J Kendall

Abstract

The monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) is a conspicuous insect that has experienced a drastic population decline over the past two decades. While there are several factors contributing to dwindling monarch populations, habitat loss is considered the most significant threat to monarchs. In the United States, loss of milkweed, particularly in the Midwest, has greatly reduced the available breeding habitat of monarchs. This has led to extensive efforts to conserve and restore milkweed resources throughout the Midwest. Recently, these research and conservation efforts have been expanded to include other important areas along the monarch's migratory path. During the fall of 2018, we conducted surveys of monarch eggs and larvae through West Texas. We documented monarch and queen butterfly (Danaus gilippus) reproduction throughout the region and used the proportion of monarch and queen larva to estimate the number of monarch eggs. Peak egg densities for monarchs were as high as 0.78 per milkweed ramet after correction for the presence of queens. Despite our observations encompassing only a limited sample across one season, the peak monarch egg densities we observed exceeded published reports from when monarch populations were higher...Continue Reading

References

Dec 23, 1998·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·L I Wassenaar, A Hobson
May 16, 2009·Science·Josep PeñuelasIolanda Filella
Dec 1, 2006·Integrative and Comparative Biology·Lincoln P BrowerPeter Walford
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