(Radio Iowa) – The latest population report on monarch butterflies finds conservation efforts in Iowa and elsewhere are starting to show promising results.
Iowa Monarch Conservation Consortium program specialist Mykayla Hagaman says researchers track the progress of the vital orange-and-black insect by measuring how much land the pollinators take up when overwintering in Mexico. This winter, they covered four-point-four acres, which is nearly double last year’s count, but scientists say they need to occupy 15 acres to be sustainable.
Hagaman says Iowans can help by creating more monarch habitat, which includes planting native milkweed and flowering species that bloom from early spring to late fall, to help provide nectar resources for monarchs during their migration.
