Monarchs and the Bt Transgenic Corn Pollen Scare

[Paul Cherubini]

Cris Guppy & Aud Fischer wrote
:
> Populations of monarchs are already
> declining as the result of various human mortality factors at all stages of
> the life history, so is not an additional 5% mortality of great concern?

1996 was an all time record high year for overwintering eastern
(Mexican) monarchs and 1997 about tied previous record highs in the
California overwintering population. No upward or downward trends have
been detected in either population after 20-25 years of monitoring.

Here's what the industry says:

Monsanto spokesman Randy Krotz said the [Cornell study] finding is
 not very important. Many monarch butterflies would
 not be exposed to the toxic pollen, he said, since
 most milkweed does not grow near corn fields.

 And Val Giddings, vice president for the
 Biotechnology Industry Organization, said:
 “Whatever the threat to monarch butterflies that is
 posed by Bt corn pollen, we know it’s less than the
 threat of drifting pesticide sprays.”

 Industry officials said they were not surprised by
 the [Cornell study] finding, because the larvae of monarch
 butterflies are similar to the corn borer. They
 also called the study sloppy because the
 researchers didn’t precisely measure the amount of
 pollen ladled onto the milkweed leaves.

 For 20 years, biotech laboratories have been
 altering the genetics of vegetables to make them
 taste better or resistant to pests, raising fears
 among environmentalists of “Frankenstein foods.”

Paul Cherubini, Placerville, California