By Donna Halleran, Executive Director for Pelican Island Audubon Society
Most everyone I know love butterflies. The monarch is a favorite of many people. They have a need to be cared for as their story is incredible. It takes four generations of monarchs to make its’ annual migration from Mexico to the North American Border. Every Fall, millions of monarchs will leave their northern homes and start a 3,000-mile journey to their overwintering sites in central Mexico.
The super monarchs are twice the size of a regular monarch butterfly that do the annual return trip, and can live up to seven months. They fly very high in the sky, up to a mile, and can smell the nectar flowers they need to refuel every day. After overwintering in Mexico, they look for a mate, while looking for milkweed to lay their eggs then die. On average monarch butterflies only live two to five weeks, while traveling north they follow the native milkweed in bloom. They are always on the move.
Our Florida monarchs, are also on the move, passing through to their summer and winter places. There are many native milkweeds for them to feast on, however; Tropical milkweed (pictured above) has been introduced and blooms year-round, creating a place to stay year-round. Unfortunately, many of these monarchs that stay and feast on Tropical milkweed become infected with a deadly parasite known as Ophryocystis elektroscirrha, called OE . Florida, monarch infection rate can be very high, and some reports state it can be 90% due to monarchs not continuing on to migration sites.
More research is needed and there is lots of controversy, place it safe, and buy local native milkweed plants from a native plant nursery. On average, two caterpillars can devour a milkweed plant. Pelican Island Audubon Society- Audubon House Garden sells a variety of native milkweeds, get them while they are in stock. You can try your green thumb at growing your own milkweed. Seeds are available through www.FloridaNativeWildflowers. com. And don’t miss Pelican Island Audubon October 14, 2024 meeting at the North County Library in Sebastian when Stacey Matrazzo, Executive Director of the Florida Wildflower Foundation will give a special talk on monarchs and milkweed.
Learn more about the Pelican Island Audubon Society at pelicanislandaudubon.org
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