{"id":1332,"date":"2011-12-07T17:28:49","date_gmt":"2011-12-07T23:28:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/realfoodhouston.com\/?p=1332"},"modified":"2014-05-19T17:43:32","modified_gmt":"2014-05-19T22:43:32","slug":"double-gm-whammy-for-the-monarch-butterfly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.realfoodhouston.com\/wp-files\/2011\/12\/07\/double-gm-whammy-for-the-monarch-butterfly\/","title":{"rendered":"Double GM Whammy for the Monarch Butterfly"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Monarch_Butterfly<\/a>I love butterflies, although I’ve always thought they should\u00a0be called\u00a0flutterbys. I photographed this monarch butterfly feeding on\u00a0milkweed in our backyard garden. It is glorious and flies in a\u00a0 marvelously\u00a0floating way that\u00a0supports its\u00a0name monarch. It may\u00a0be the most popular and best known butterfly in the world. Tourists\u00a0follow their migrations and visit their wintering sites in Mexico. Since monarch butterfly larvae feed exclusively upon milkweed, gardeners\u00a0plant milkweed to attract the butterflies and help them on their migration\u00a0journey. For thousands of years these beautiful butterflies and their\u00a0milkweed plants have lived well alongside our farms and fields, but their numbers are steadily decreasing.\u00a0 Our heavy reliance on GM crops, their toxins, and herbicides could be dooming the monarch.\u00a0 They are being attacked in two ways: the destruction of\u00a0the milkweed their\u00a0larvae exclusively feed upon and the direct poisoning of\u00a0the larvae.<\/p>\n

There are fewer monarch butterflies.\u00a0 A recent study<\/a> of\u00a0 the area in Mexico occupied by wintering monarch butterflies found\u00a0a statistically significant decrease in the numbers of butterflies\u00a0in 2009-2010. The numbers were at an all-time low, following a 15-year\u00a0 downward trend. Although the winter of 2010-11 saw an increase, the\u00a0 total\u00a0remained low. The study proposed three factors contributing to the decline in monarch butterflies: (1) degradation of the wintering\u00a0 forests in Mexico (2) “loss of breeding habitat in the United States due\u00a0 to the expansion of GM herbicide-resistant crops, with consequent loss\u00a0 of milkweed host plants, as well as continued land deveopment;” and (3)\u00a0 severe weather. The study questions the long-term survival of the monarch\u00a0butterfly and its migration.<\/p>\n

Research<\/a> by\u00a0Bob Hartzler of Iowa State University found that numbers of milkweed plants\u00a0declined following the introduction of Roundup Ready crops. Roundup Ready\u00a0crops are genetically engineered to be resistant to herbicides, specifically\u00a0glyphosate. Another study<\/a> published\u00a0in the journal Insect Conservation and Diversity<\/em> also shows that\u00a0the increased use of glyphosate herbicide is killing milkweed plants. Milkweed\u00a0has been shown to be very susceptible\u00a0to glyphosate<\/a>, the herbicide in Roundup. Roundup Ready seeds are genetically\u00a0engineered to be resistant to glyphosate, so that the crops will survive\u00a0the application of the herbicide–only the weeds will be killed. However,\u00a0milkweed is not resistant so that the use of glyphosate on Roundup Ready\u00a0GM crops kills the milkweed in and around\u00a0crop fields. In addition, due to increasing resistance of some weeds\u00a0to glyphosate, glyphosate is now being applied to crops in even larger\u00a0amounts than initially intended. The widespread use of more glyphosate\u00a0could escalate the killing of the milkweed.<\/p>\n

\"Monarch_caterpillar\"<\/a>Killing the milkweed is not the only way GM crops harm monarchs.\u00a0 They harm the larvae directly.\u00a0We have lots of monarch larvae feeding on our backyard\u00a0milkweed plants. A monarch larva is quite attractive–for a caterpillar. They are not spiky and fearsome looking like many caterpillars. They\u00a0have smooth round bodies, feathery antennae, and are colored in an\u00a0alternating striped pattern of yellow, black, and white. In addition\u00a0to killing the host milkweed plants, GM crops also threaten these attractive\u00a0monarch larvae with their\u00a0toxicity.\u00a0 Studies by John\u00a0Losey et al.<\/a> and Stanley-Horn\u00a0et al.<\/a> at Iowa State University show that pollen from Bt<\/em> corn\u00a0can kill monarch butterfly larvae. Bt<\/em> corn\u00a0has been engineered to contain the Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt<\/em>)\u00a0toxin to make corn resistant to the European corn borer. However, since\u00a0corn is pollinated by wind distribution, the Bt<\/em> corn\u00a0pollen can be blown and deposited on milkweed plants\u00a0commonly\u00a0found alongside the corn crops and in neighboring fields. In laboratory\u00a0tests, monarchs fed milkweed leaves dusted with Bt<\/em> corn pollen “ate\u00a0less, grew more slowly and suffered a higher mortality rate” than\u00a0those fed on uncontaminated milkweed leaves. Death occured even\u00a0at low levels of pollen. Nearly half of the larvae fed on Bt<\/em> corn\u00a0pollen died, while all the other larvae survived. The\u00a0monarchs’ spring northward migration puts them in the cornfields just\u00a0at the time when corn is shedding pollen.\u00a0The type of Bt<\/em> corn\u00a0used in the tests, 176 Bt<\/em> corn, was thought to be the most serious\u00a0threat to monarchs; however, it was expected to be phased out by 2003, and\u00a0the decline in monarch numbers continues.<\/p>\n

Milkweed had never been a significant problem to farmers before GM crops\u00a0were introduced. Although milkweed was common,\u00a0it seldom reduced crop\u00a0yields. Of course, milkweed is not the primary target of the glyphosate\u00a0in Roundup; it is just one of the many weeds it is intended to kill.\u00a0In fact, the increasing use of herbicides and other chemicals is causing\u00a0widespread destruction of not only butterflies, but also wildflowers<\/a>,\u00a0and other insects. These wild plants nourish birds and they help fight\u00a0crop pests by attracting ladybirds and other insects, acting as a natural\u00a0pesticide and reducing the need for chemicals. If we continue the current\u00a0agricultural trend of using more and more chemicals on genetically engineered\u00a0crops how long will we have these beautiful butterflies to enjoy?<\/p>\n

Update, July 15, 2012:<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 David Snow, a California garden designer, has been devoting himself to pressuring “the world’s largest maker of pesticides” to change the labels on it “Bug-B-Gon” and “Flower, Fruit and Vegetable Insect Killer” to remove the images of the monarch butterfly caterpillar.\u00a0 He had called the manufacturer, Ortho (parent company is Scotts Co. LLC), and filed formal complaints.\u00a0 Snow just wanted Ortho to replace the monarch caterpillar images with “a certified bad-guy bug.”\u00a0 Snow’s campaign was successful; he was notified in early July that Ortho is changing the labels.<\/p>\n

The monarch caterpillar feeds exclusively on the milkweed plant, which means they are harmless to home garden plants.\u00a0 The numbers of monarch butterflies in California have fallen by an estimated 80% over the last 15 years.
\nSource:\u00a0http:\/\/www.mercurynews.com\/breaking-news\/ci_21044136\/victory-getting-caterpillar-off-pesticide-label<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Update, December 6, 2012:<\/em><\/strong> A new study has shown that “Roundup is killing off the milkweed on which the monarchs lay their eggs, and sprawl and recent droughts threaten the milkweed as well. If that weren\u2019t enough, monarchs are losing a grip on the 60-square-mile area where they winter in Mexico.” “Will the devastated monarch butterfly take flight again?<\/a>”<\/p>\n

Update, March 14, 2013:<\/strong><\/em> Sad News!\u00a0 A survey in Mexico in December 2012 and January 2013 found a 59% decrease<\/strong> in wintering monarch colonies.\u00a0 Scientists said the likely cause is unseasonably warm weather and a “dramatic loss of habitat in the U.S. Corn Belt.” “Mexico monarch butterfly population smallest in years, study says.”<\/a><\/p>\n

Update, May 19, 2014:<\/strong>\u00a0 Here\u2019s How You Can Help Bring Monarch Butterflies (and Honey Bees) Back from the Brink of Extinction<\/a> You can help prevent the extinction by planting milkweed and by signing a letter and “the Center for Food Safety’s petition, urging the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), US Department of Agriculture (USDA), and President Obama to protect the monarchs’ breeding habitat by halting the approval of Monsanto Roundup Ready\u2122 and other glyphosate-resistant and pesticide-promoting genetically engineered crops.”<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I love butterflies, although I’ve always thought they should\u00a0be called\u00a0flutterbys. I photographed this monarch butterfly feeding on\u00a0milkweed in our backyard garden. It is glorious and flies in a\u00a0 marvelously\u00a0floating way that\u00a0supports its\u00a0name monarch. It may\u00a0be the most popular and best …<\/span> Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[59,19],"tags":[405,74,31],"class_list":["post-1332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gmos","category-real-food","tag-gmos","tag-monarch-butterflies","tag-sustainable-farming"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p70SEj-lu","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realfoodhouston.com\/wp-files\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1332","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realfoodhouston.com\/wp-files\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realfoodhouston.com\/wp-files\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realfoodhouston.com\/wp-files\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realfoodhouston.com\/wp-files\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1332"}],"version-history":[{"count":36,"href":"http:\/\/www.realfoodhouston.com\/wp-files\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1332\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5670,"href":"http:\/\/www.realfoodhouston.com\/wp-files\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1332\/revisions\/5670"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realfoodhouston.com\/wp-files\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realfoodhouston.com\/wp-files\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realfoodhouston.com\/wp-files\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}