<p><em>“I</em><em>f you whisper a wish to a butterfly, then give it its freedom, the wish will be taken to the Great Spirit and granted.”</em></p>
<p>— Native American saying</p>
<p>Butterflies have been mesmerizing humans since the two first encountered each other. If you grew up in the country during the ‘50s and ‘60s like I did, you can remember butterflies being everywhere. They were so plentiful that my high school science teacher made it mandatory to submit an insect collection of moths, beetles, butterflies and some less attractive “bugs.”</p>
<p>Butterflies were so numerous that screens were installed on car grills to prevent large numbers of roadkill butterflies from clogging up the radiator.</p>[sc:text-divider text-divider-title="Story continues below gallery" ]
<p>But the butterfly population isn’t what it used to be for a number of reasons, all stemming from a lack of concern for the environment. To me, to many, the butterfly is the proverbial canary in the coalmine, its dwindling numbers warning us of what lies ahead.</p>
<p>Butterflies need host plants, specific plants upon which they lay their eggs thus enabling the hatched out caterpillars to feed on leaves. Each species needs specific host plants. They also need nectar plants — any sweet, high-energy flower that can feed the newly emerged and adult butterflies. Nectar plants are also called pollinator plants</p>
<p>As suburbs have grown, butterfly habitats have been encroached upon or consumed entirely. Farming and municipal practices use herbicides, killing host and nectar plants; insecticides, which kill the butterfly or its caterpillar, and indiscriminate mowing, all to create a recipe for the decline of butterfly populations.</p>
<p>The loss of native plants coupled with the arrival of aggressive invasive species or insecticide-laden, commercially sold plants further complicate the issue. We are telling the butterflies, there is probably no room at the inn, and the rooms we have may be poisoned.</p>
<p>There are still many species of butterflies here in Johnson County but in reduced numbers. The monarch, the zebra swallowtail, the common buckeye and others frequent my prairie grasses but it takes work to reproduce such an environment.</p>
<p>At one time, the most common butterfly was the highly recognized monarch, a butterfly with a very complex life cycle. Each year these beautiful creatures leave their homes in North America, of which there are two populations, and fly south.</p>
<p>The group west of the Rockies travels and overwinters along the coast of California. Those east of the Rockies — our population — migrate up to 3,000 miles to an overwintering area near Sierra Chincua, Mexico. Here millions will cluster together on the oyamel fir trees until winter departs and they start the trip back north.</p>
<p>These overwintered monarchs, now eight months old, will not return to their original northern home. Instead, they will migrate to Texas in May, then mate, lay eggs and die. Their eggs will develop in a few days, turn into caterpillars and eventually a butterfly.</p>
<p>This cycle will repeat itself over four or five generations until they arrive back in Indiana and the rest of the U.S. and Canada. Once back home, they will breed again. Beginning in late August and on into September, their progeny, the super monarchs, with paper-thin wings, begin their 3,000 mile flight to overwinter in Mexico.</p>
<p>But while monarchs deal with habitat destruction and insecticides in Indiana, they also face threats in Mexico. Illegal logging in the Sierra Chincua area is reducing the high mountain microclimate needed for the overwintering monarchs.</p>
<p>Still, even with reduced habitat in Mexico, there have been dwindling numbers of overwintering, returning monarchs, thus a good portion of the problem is with us.</p>
<p>As mentioned previously, butterflies need specific host plants upon which they lay their eggs. The No. 1 plant for monarchs is the milkweed, of which there are a number of species. The most common in Indiana is orange butterfly weed, the common milkweed and the swamp milkweed, all in decline.</p>
<p>Recently, concerned groups and municipalities across the United States have planted large areas of milkweed to aid in the rehabilitation of the species. These “monarch stations” provide a host plant for egg laying and blooms for emerging and migrating monarchs.</p>
<p>I collect and raise a few monarch caterpillars and give some to people with children or to assisted-living units in the area. Kids of all ages love watching the butterfly emerge from its chrysalis and then releasing the insects. One child this year couldn’t be home so he viewed its emergence through FaceTime on a smartphone.</p>
<p>Last year our success rate with caterpillars forming a chrysalis and emerging as an adult was near 95 percent. In nature, a female monarch will typically lay 400 eggs, and then die within two weeks. Of those 400, only 4 to 6 — about 1 percent — will make it to adulthood. The rest become victims to parasites and predators that feed on the eggs or caterpillars.</p>
<p>An August 2019 butterfly count in Big Oaks National Wildlife Refuge near Madison, Indiana, gave encouraging numbers. The tally for monarchs was 600, up from 175 in 2018 and only 72 in 2017. Hopefully the nationwide propagation of milkweed, along with other corrective measures, is working.</p>
<p>Should you want more information on the Monarch, go to NationalGeographic.com and search for “monarch migration.” It is a very in-depth feature that follows banded monarchs in near real-time as they travel to Mexico in the fall and return in the spring.</p>
<p>Indiana butterfly locales I have enjoyed include Kankakee Sands in northern Indiana, as well as Big Oaks National Wildlife Refuge and Splinter Ridge Fish and Wildlife Area, both near Madison, Indiana.</p>
<p>For something within an hour’s drive, go to Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge, near Seymour. Be prepared to drive around each area a little, and call ahead for reports on species and numbers present and hours of operation. Watch other cars for they are there after the same thing and often willing to share in the experience.</p>
<p>Some of the species I have experienced are: zebra swallowtail, eastern tiger swallowtail, red spotted purple, hackberry emperor, common buckeye, silver-sided skipper (an aggressive little guy), black swallowtail, painted lady, American beauty, monarch and its lookalike the viceroy, greater fritillary, and variegated fritillary.</p>
<p>Doug Skinner is a semi-retired veterinarian. Send comments to <a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a>.</p>
