Monarch butterfly on milkweed

Did you know that the native red maple tree you bought from your local nursery may have originated with a clone collected in Florida? Or that the native meadow seed you planted likely was collected in the Midwest?So what does that matter? Over millennia, truly local plants have evolved to flourish in the local conditions, and to harmonize with the local wildlife, Sefra Alexandra explains. These locally evolved plants are what scientists describe as ecotypes.

I’m seeing a lot more Monarch butterflies this year. I wonder if that is due to the huge effort that people are putting into restoring habitat and planting natives. Here a monarch caterpillar is chewing on a milkweed. Danaus plexippus, Asclepias syriaca

Photography by Kim Smith

Photo about a Monarch butterfly sipping milkweed nectar being attacked by another Monarch butterfly. Image of bloom, leffanta, flower - 34788221

Plant these types of milkweed to support monarch butterflies.

Want to help monarch butterflies? Be careful when selecting your milkweed. Not all plants that go by the common name of "milkweed" are the food that these butterflies need. Milkweed is both a food source and a host plant on which the monarch butterflies lay their eggs. Monarchs lay their eggs on the underside of the milkweed foliage.

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Photographed at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Miami. For more nature images of South Florida, please visit me at: pedrolastra.com © 2007 by Pedro Lastra This image is copyrighted material as indicated!

The Monarch is the largest butterfly seen in the British Isles and is also one of our rarest migrants. Known for its ability to travel large distances, the migrations in North America are one of the greatest natural phenomena in the world - where the adult butterflies can migrate from as far north as Canada to the overwintering grounds in Mexico, the west coast of California and Florida.