{"id":4229,"date":"2016-04-20T15:53:17","date_gmt":"2016-04-20T18:53:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lawnstarter.wpengine.com\/?p=4229"},"modified":"2016-04-21T14:25:54","modified_gmt":"2016-04-21T17:25:54","slug":"monarch-butterfly-infographic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lawnstarter.com\/blog\/environment\/monarch-butterfly-infographic\/","title":{"rendered":"19 Amazing Facts About the Monarch Butterfly"},"content":{"rendered":"

As described in one research study, the Monarch butterfly is \u201can iconic North American insect.\u201d An <\/span>earlier research study<\/span><\/a> went even further, hailing the monarch <\/span>as \u201cone of the world\u2019s most well-known insects, being easily identifiable by its bright orange and black wing colors.\u201d<\/span><\/p>

Indeed, kids and adults around the world are fascinated by the monarch\u2019s vivid colors and its lengthy migration path through Mexico, the U.S. and Canada.<\/span><\/p>

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Photo:\u00a0Tarnya Hall\/Flickr<\/a><\/em><\/p>

Unfortunately, this beloved insect faces an uncertain future.<\/p>

Experts say the east-of-the-Rockies migratory monarch population — the biggest population in North America — plummeted by 84 percent from the winter of 1996-97 to the winter of 2014-15. And the future doesn\u2019t look any brighter: <\/span>Research published<\/span><\/a> in March 2016 in Scientific Reports suggests there\u2019s an 11 percent to 57 percent chance of \u201cquasi-extinction\u201d of the so-called Eastern monarch over the next 20 years.<\/span><\/p>

\u201cA quasi-extinct population is one with so few remaining individuals left that recovery is impossible. While the remaining individuals may survive for a short time, the population as a whole will inevitably go extinct,\u201d the study says.<\/span><\/p>

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Photo: Karen Oberhauser\/University of Minnesota<\/a><\/span><\/i><\/p>

The situation is so dire, in fact, that an array of advocates are pressing for the Eastern monarch and its west-of-the-Rockies counterpart <\/span>to be put on the U.S. government\u2019s endangered species list<\/span><\/a>. In 2015, a White House task force <\/span>called for boosting<\/span><\/a> the Eastern monarch\u2019s wintertime population to 225 million by 2020.<\/span><\/p>

\u201cBecause monarch numbers vary dramatically from year to year depending on weather and other factors, increasing the average population size is the single most important way to provide these iconic butterflies with a much-needed buffer against extinction,\u201d <\/span>says<\/span><\/a> Brice Semmens, lead author of the Scientific Reports study and a scientist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.<\/span><\/p>

To celebrate the monarch, we\u2019ve assembled this infographic highlighting 19 facts about the iconic insect. We thank Orley \u201cChip\u201d Taylor, founder and director of <\/span>Monarch Watch<\/span><\/a> and a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the <\/span>University of Kansas<\/span><\/a>, for reviewing these facts to ensure their accuracy.<\/span><\/p>

Top photo: Steve Hilburger\/U.S. Geological Survey<\/span><\/i><\/p>

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