[Leps-l] [leps-talk] Monarch Armageddon

[Paul Cherubini]

On Feb 20, 2013, at 7:40 AM, Foley, Patrick wrote:

> New pathogens and parasites arise in populations by
> mutation or host switching. Their transmission to other
> populations sometimes has disproportionate effects.
> This is clear for many species including B. occidentalis,
> even highly mobile ones such as our own. Monarchs
> are not fully panmictic, even in temperate areas,
> despite lots of natural mixing.

Pat, over five monarch genetics studies (including this
2012 study*) have failed to find genetic differences 
between eastern and western monarchs.   But even if 
it was true that eastern and western monarchs are not 
fully panmictic you, Brower, Oberhauser and Taylor have 
not explained how it could be biologically possible for a 
few citizen scientists  like myself to inadvertently cause 
the collapse of the whole eastern migration-overwintering 
phenomenon via shipping a few thousand western
monarchs to the eastern USA.

The bumblebee, Bombus occidentalis, did not suffer
a population decline here in the USA because humans 
transported a native western USA bumblebee disease or 
parasite to the eastern USA or vice versa.  So the Bombus 
situation cannot be legitimately compared to the human 
assisted west to east monarch transfer issue.

Thus we continue to see there is no credible scientific basis 
underlying the beliefs of Brower, Oberhauser and Taylor
that a few that a few citizen scientists like myself could 
inadvertently cause the collapse of the whole eastern 
monarch migration-overwintering phenomenon via shipping 
a few thousand wild caught western monarchs to the 
eastern USA.

Paul Cherubini
El Dorado, Calif.

*Lack of genetic differentiation between monarch 
butterflies with divergent migration destinations
Molecular Ecology 21, 3433-3444 (2012)