Monarch Kill Comments?

[Paul Cherubini]

Dave Green wrote in regard to a news story about an alledged
mosquito fogging related monarch butterfly kill in Gaylord, 
Minnesota:
 
> Wish the bees would get as much attention!  Maybe I could get them to
> somehow have more charisma.
> 
> http://www.mankatofreepress.com/archives/2000/000826/story1.html

Actually, Dave, it is a banner year for monarch butterflies in southern
Minnesota, Iowa and South Dakota. Below is how Thea Miller Ryan
of Sioux Falls, South Dakota described the situation on Aug 31 to
the monarch butterfly discussion list:

> We are having an incredible year for tagging. We are getting hundreds,
> yes, hundreds of phone calls from people, telling us about their yards.
> I think this is the heaviest concentration of monarchs
> we have seen in the 4 years we have been tagging.
> The calls are coming from southwestern Minnesota, including 
> Luvurne, Hills, and Blue Mound. Iowa calls are from Inwood area.
> South Dakota calls are from Sioux Falls (both urban and rural areas), 
> Dell Rapids, Rowena, Lyons, Renner, Beresford, Canton, Brandon, 
> Lake Vermillion, Colton, Lennox, Tea,Parker, Humboldt, Hartford,
> Aberdeen, Alcester, Harrisburg, and Spencer.

When outbreaks of monarchs occur like this, monarchs literally
fill the trees that line the streets of small farm towns like Gaylord, MN
(where the alledged mosquito fogging related butterfly kill occurred) 
at the end of Aug and first week of Sept. Possibly the reason some 
monarchs got killed is that the mosquito spray trucks driving through 
the city streets at night unknowingly blew the permethrin fogging 
material at close range into some monarch clusters that were formed
in trees along the streets. A loss of a few thousand monarchs from the 
spray incident is trivial in relation to the many millions of monarchs in 
Minnesota this year.

Ironically, the outbreak of monarch butterflies that is occuring in
the upper midwest this year also coincides with the area of the USA
where a high percentage of genetically modified corn and soybeans
are grown.

For example, Gaylord, MN is located in Sibley County, MN.

SIBLEY COUNTY, MINNESOTA
                         =          589 square miles
                         =   376,960 acres
Corn    (1999)  =   132,800 acres = 35.2% of the County land
Soybeans  "      =   132,000 acres = 35.0% of the County land

About 30% of this corn crop is Bt corn and about 55% of this
soybean crop is genetically modified (herbicide tolerant) soybeans.

How ironic that a major outbreak of monarchs is occuring this year
in an area of the country where the greatest concentration of
genetically modified corn and soybeans is grown.

Paul Cherubini