Monarch butterflies to be listed as a threatened species in US

[phkrause]

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — U.S. wildlife officials announced a decision Tuesday to extend federal protections to monarch butterflies after years of warnings from environmentalists that populations are shrinking and the beloved pollinator may not survive climate change.

https://apnews.com/article/monarch-butterflies-endangered-species-climate-habitat-f5d4844289ede7b3d76918cc6f98a5cc?

[phkrause]

Dramatic drop in monarch butterfly count nears record 30-year low

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The number of monarch butterflies spending the winter in the western United States has dropped to its second-lowest mark in nearly three decades as pesticides, diminishing habitat and climate change take their toll on the beloved pollinator.

https://apnews.com/article/monarch-butterflies-threatened-winter-count-migration-8c9bff7c1f226d6837debb3c246387db?

[phkrause]

? Vanishing butterflies

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

The number of Monarch butterflies in the western U.S. is almost as low as it's ever been. Extreme heat, drought, wildfires and pesticides are likely to blame. Temperatures last summer were hot enough to kill the butterflies. And milkweed plants, which sustain caterpillars, have been decimated. ? Monarch populations have bounced back from big single-year drops before, but it's too early to say whether that will happen again this time, experts told AP.