Butterflies Behaving Badly?

[Grkovich, Alex]

Paul,

The Monarch overwintering site at Havasu Springs, Arizona that I have
recently described is also man made. It is a large trailer park with
eucalyptus (I think) trees planted for shade and wind protection, as you
have described. I found several other species in the area as well: Queens,
Fiery Skippers, Painted Lady, Checkered Skipper (probably- I couldn't net
the specimen to be certain), etc.

Alex 

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Paul Cherubini [SMTP:monarch at saber.net]
> Sent:	Friday, August 24, 2001 12:40 AM
> To:	leps-l at lists.yale.edu
> Subject:	Re: Butterflies Behaving Badly?
> 
> Paul J. Russell wrote:
> 
> > The exhibit has done more
> > to raise awareness of lepidoptera and entomology in this community than
> > anything I have seen anywhere.  I suspect this will be very valuable in
> > protecting our local Monarch overwintering sites from the depredations
> of
> > developers.
> 
> Depredations? Not necessarity. Fact is all the 10-15 large monarch
> overwintering 
> sites in Santa Barbara are man made made to begin with.  The butterflies
> overwinter in clumps of Australian eucalyptus trees that were intentially
> planted by developers as wind breaks bordering orchards, row crops and
> also as ornamental plantings around industrial and residential
> developments.
> Some groves were also planted for firewood and other lumber uses.
> 
> Ironically, areas of Santa Barbara (such as around Point Sal) that were 
> never developed in anyway have no monarch overwintering sites.
> The landscape in these natural areas is just treeless coastal 
> prairie.
> 
> Conservationists are always trying to pit monarchs vs. developers
> instead of acknowledging and rejoicing in the fact that both
> can coexist. For example, one of the large monarch overwintering
> sites in Santa Barbara County exists in the eucalyptus
> grove the grows right within the huge Chevron oil and gas refinery 
> complex at Gaviota.  Oil companies frequently plant eucalyptus as an 
> ornamental landscape tree around the perimeter of their property. 
> 
> > The butterflies in the exhibit come from breeders, who raise them for
> > that purpose.  Think of it, an opportunity for an entomologist to 
> > actually make a living from something other than spraying crops!
> 
> Crops and monarchs can also coexist nicely.  The area of the USA
> with the largest summer breeding population of monarchs is in
> the upper Midwest.  Recent cutting edge research conducted by the
> University of Iowa has found that 94% of the monarchs in Minnesota
> and Wisconsin develop on milkweed plants that grow as weeds
> WITHIN the corn and soybean crop. In other midwestern states the
> percentage is also high - around 70% or 80%.  Prior to this finding
> conservationists assumed most monarchs developed on milkweeds
> growing in more natural settings away from crops, chemical
> fertilizers and pesticides.
> 
> Paul Cherubini, Placerville, Calif.
> 
>  
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