Monarchs and Monoculture in southern Michigan

[Bill Cornelius]

Sometimes parasite populations take a while to thin out non local leps, 
like parasites that were feeeding on corn ear worms, now have to 
scrabble to find other hosts. What's the crop history of Pauls sites?

By non local, I mean butterflies that can move over a wide range easily, 
like monarchs & painted ladies. as opposed to corn ear worms & C. 
eurytheme. (I know C eurytheme moves easily, but they usually don't so 
long as there's alfalfa around)

Bill

Stan Gorodenski wrote:

> This is an interesting conflict. Both observers purport to have seen 
> just the opposite with regard to monocultures of transgenic crops. 
> Maybe the growers in the areas Roger was looking at did a better job 
> of eliminating weed growth in the perimeters of the fields, but how do 
> you explain (i.e., to myself) Paul's observation that Monarch and 
> Painted Lady abundances are greater in these areas? Could these kinds 
> of crops reduce other populations of herbivores and thus also insect 
> parasites and predators that might also feed on Monarchs, resulting in 
> the contradictory greater abundance?
> Stan
>
> Paul Cherubini wrote:
>
>> Roger Kuhlman wrote:
>>  
>>
>>> The main point of what I had to say was that where agricultural 
>>> monocultures
>>> existed in southeast Michigan presumingly developed with the most 
>>> advanced
>>> technological means there were no milkweeds and no Monarchs except 
>>> perhaps a
>>> fly-by Monarch now and then. From that observation I think it is 
>>> reasonable
>>> to infer that the Summer Monarch population in our area would face great
>>> difficulties if all agricultural lands adopted these practices.
>>>   
>>
>>
>> And my experiece has been exactly the opposite: that the most abundant
>> summer breeding populations of monarchs (& Painted Ladies )
>> in the whole USA - are found where there are the most concentrated, 
>> intensive monocultures of transgenic corn and soybeans (southern 
>> Minnesota an Iowa and surrounding states).
>>
>> Paul Cherubini
>>
>>
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