Which subspecies is instrumental in pollinating the many flowers and dietary staples that we enjoy today, like squash and blueberries? Not sure, here is a hint. It can migrate up to 3,000 miles before reaching its final destination. It possesses two pairs of brilliant orange-red wings, featuring black veins and white spots along its edges. With a wingspan of 95 to 100 millimeters, it is the largest and rarest migrant species. It is the migratory monarch butterfly.
Recently, several members of Military Sealift Command Atlantic (MSCLANT) built a Monarch Butterfly Waystation, located in the command’s very own backyard of Naval Station Norfolk (NAVSTA Norfolk). The team planted several plants of milkweed that will serve as the migrating monarch butterfly’s food source and a place for thirsty pollinators to lay their eggs during its upcoming spring migration.
Each year in early March, millions of multi-generational migratory monarch butterflies, also known as Danaus plexippus ssp. plexippus, leave their Mexican roots, flying north and east in search of milkweed, a food source that is crucial for their survival. “It is the only plant source that can sustain both their long migration and reproduction for generations,” said Ms. Kimberlie Young, MSCLANT counsel.
Unfortunately, the habitat of the migrating monarch butterfly is at risk due to the loss of milkweed plants, Young said. “Habitat conversions for other uses, herbicide applications, and climate changes have caused a decline in the milkweed habitat in both the eastern and western regions of the Monarch’s North American range.”
To help conserve and protect monarchs, the National Wildlife Federation is encouraging communities to grow Monarch Butterfly Waystations, planting native plants like milkweed in the places where they live, work, learn, play, and worship. Young, who is a master gardener, first planted milkweed at her home and then tended to the caterpillars and butterflies that emerged before introducing the idea to members of the MSCLANT team. “It’s a wonderful thing to raise a monarch from an egg to a butterfly. Because there is so much open space on NAVSTA Norfolk, I thought it would be a good opportunity to use a patch of MSCLANT’s backyard to build the command’s very own waystation to help our pollinators. As people see the garden and witness God’s beauty, the hope is this will inspire others to plant milkweed.”
The migratory monarch butterfly is a subspecies of the monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus). It spends winters in Mexico and California before migrating to its summer breeding grounds throughout the U.S. and Canada.
According to a recent online Monarch Joint Venture article dated Dec. 11, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) plans to reduce the migratory monarch butterfly’s status from endangered species to vulnerable.
To learn more about Military Sealift Command, visit https://sealiftcommand.com.
| Date Taken: | 01.04.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 01.04.2024 12:34 |
| Story ID: | 461300 |
| Location: | NORFOLK, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 121 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Military Sealift Command Atlantic Builds a Monarch Waystation to Conserve and Protect a Vulnerable Subspecies, by LaShawn Sykes, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
