"dire straits faced by most of our butterfly fauna"

[Paul Cherubini]

patfoley wrote:

> do you seriously think monarchs make a good model lep for
> conservation problems?

Not really because the Monarch and it's milkweed host
plants tend to thrive in disturbed habitats - both urban and
agricultural - just like many of the Vanessas, Cabbage Whites,
Swallowtails, Orange Sulfurs, Mourning Cloaks, Buckeyes
and so forth.

But Shapiro has expressed doomsday-type concerns
about declines in the weedy species too, in the lower
Sacramento Valley; e.g. declines in Mourning Cloaks,
Buckeyes, Orange Sulfurs (in some years) etc.

Paul Cherubini
El Dorado, Calif.

 
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