Heat Cutting Down on Butterflies, Food Source Kelley Hoskins - Fox News
go to original August 13, 2012

Within a few days, hundreds of monarch butterflies will be setting out on their annual migration to Mexico. If you'd like to see them before their southbound odyssey, join the team from the Insectarium, a Montréal Space for Life, outdoors for the Monarch Odyssey on August 18, 19, 25, 26 and September 1, 2 and 3, at 2:30 p.m. Learn about the different steps in a monarch's development and how this tiny animal weighing less than half a gram manages to make the longest migration of any insect: more than 4,000 kilometres. You can also watch Insectarium staff tagging these well-known butterflies with their trademark orange and black-veined wings as part of the Monarch Watch international research program at the University of Kansas, supported by Canada, the United States and Mexico. More info here

Ecologists in Kansas and Missouri say extreme temperatures are killing a large number of butterflies and could hurt their southern migration next month.

Millions of monarch butterflies are expected to migrate south through the two states in less than a month in their seasonal trip from Canada to Mexico.

KSHB-TV  reports the Powell Botanical Gardens annual butterfly festival east of Kansas City is seeing the lowest number of monarchs in a decade.

University of Kansas Monarch Watch director Chip Taylor says flowers that should bloom in the fall already are finished blooming, which could be a problem for butterflies that need the plants’ nectar for their journey.

Horticulturists say fewer butterflies also could mean fewer birds, bees and flowers as the drought continues.

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