Butterflies and Gardens
Summer 2008 Volume IV, Issue 3

Inside this issue

• NASA Releases Mexican Monarch Biosphere Reserve Deforestation Evidence
• Where Has All the Grain Gone?
• World Food Programme
• Global Rice Prices Hit U.S. Consumers
• Study Results Are in for GM Soy
• Earth Day/Arbor Day Planting Event
• OE Spores Harm Monarch Butterfly
• Painted Lady Pays a Visit
• Horsemint Plant for Karner Blue Butterfly
• A Child and Monarch Butterfly Encounter
• School Hosts Gardening Seminar

NASA Releases Mexican Monarch Biosphere Reserve Deforestation Evidence
by Chris Waldron

Michoacan, Mexico - The monarch’s home in Lomas de Aparicio is having further deforestation challenges, as seen in a photo from space that National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) released in early March. NASA’s photos show just how bad the deforestation is in central Mexico. The photos revealed that since 2004, roughly 1,100 acres have been cut from the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve. These photos are before and after shots that help scientists estimate the rate of cutting and the survival of future sustainability.

The sad part of this environmental issue is that not only is the monarch losing its home, but if things continue, the 230,000 tourists who come to see the butterflies hibernating and taking flight will not be able to see this sight in the future. The oyamel fir trees are important not only as a roosting place, but as protection from storms and the intense Mexican sun. With the lack of trees, the habitat will not support monarchs, causing the butterflies to lose their winter colonies.

In the year 2000, logging was forbidden in the core areas of the habitat. The Mexican government, however, has had a problem policing the grounds and keeping loggers out of the area. The pictures provided by NASA may help pass future legislation and increase efforts towards reforestation by providing extra power and ability to those fighting for the protection of the monarch butterfly.

Where Has All the Grain Gone?
by Mary Ellen Ryall

There is a world crisis developing with a global food shortage. Food is depleted when farm crops are converted into biofuel. Acreage requirements for raising biofuel crops deplete agricultural land. However, deforestation takes place in many developing countries in order to raise grains for fuel, which fetches a higher price than food. At present, there is a shortage of corn, rice, and wheat. The shortage of food is not only about biofuel.

Deforestation leads to more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which in turn depletes the oxygen we need to breathe. More carbon dioxide contributes to global warming, causing further damage in drought areas such as Australia and other problems.

Developing countries like China and India are now able to afford a meat-based diet. It takes 700 calories worth of animal feed to produce 100 calories of beef. This too puts a high demand on grain.

Cost of oil and the distance from farm to table, an average of 1,500 miles, is also raising the price of food. The list goes on and on. There is a domino effect going on. As organic gardeners, we encourage our readers and members to plant a kitchen garden at least and grow your own food as much as possible to combat the rising food prices.

World Food Programme

London, UK - The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is appealing for funds to stave off a looming global food shortage. WFP executive director Josette Sheeran addressed a UK parliamentary hearing in London. Sheeran said, “High food prices are creating the biggest challenge that WFP has faced in its 45-year history.”
Analysis provides estimates that about 100 million people have been pushed deeper into poverty by high food prices. Other statistics show that there will be a major nutritional loss that will impact children for a lifetime. Sheerer stated, “What we are seeing now is affecting more people on every continent, destroying even more livelihoods.”

WFP is engaged with other agencies such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and other nongovernmental organizations to mobilize a coordinated effort to try to ward off a pending crisis.

Global Rice Prices Hit U.S. Consumers

San Francisco, California, USA - Costco Wholesale and Wal-Mart’s Sam’s Club are two of the largest warehouse retail chains in the US. They are both limiting their long-grain rice supplies for customers. Sam’s Club is limiting long-grain rice to four bags per member visit.
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Three major rice producers, India, Vietnam, and Egypt, are restricting shipments of rice to insure they will have enough supply for their own countries. This past week Brazil joined ranks in restricting shipments. This further causes a rice shortage in all countries.

An abundance of medium- and short-grain rice is planted in California, the USA’s second-largest rice-producing state after Arkansas. There is no shortage of these varieties, but many shoppers prefer the jasmine rice from Thailand and basmati rice from India.

Study Results Are in for GM Soy

Kansas, USA – The University of Kansas has carried out a study on soy crops for the past three years. The conclusion is that GM soy produces about 10 percent less food than conventional soy seed. GM technology, on the other hand, suggested that GM crops would enhance the global food supply.

An early study by University of Nebraska confirmed that GM soy yield was 11 percent less than non-GM soy yield.

The International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development concluded that GM was not the answer to world hunger. Professor Bob Watson is the director of the study and chief scientist at the Department for the Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs. When asked if GM could solve world hunger, he said: “The simple answer is no.”

Earth Day/Arbor Day Planting Event

Shell Lake, Wisconsin, USA – Respected elders John and Ginger Anderson and Lori Taguma, general manager of WOJB, a radio station on Lc Courte Oreilles Reservation, were with us in ceremony on April 26. Lori performed an Eagle Feather Dance to the Four Directions. John and Ginger offered a Pipe Ceremony for the Monarch Butterfly Habitat and asked the Creator to help the plants to grow for the butterflies.

The Minnesota Wisconsin Lake and Pines Girl Scouts and the Shell Lake Future Farmers of America students joined members of Happy Tonics and other volunteers to spread the mulch where shrubs are to be planted.

It was a snowy day and the north wind was blowing. Even though a tempest was brewing, spirits were high as the community near and far came together to support the Monarch Butterfly Habitat.

John and Ginger Anderson © Diane Dryden

OE Spores Harm Monarch Butterfly
by Chris Waldron

Since the 1960s the monarch butterfly has been devastated by a parasite commonly known as OE. OE (Ophryocystis elektroscirrha) spores attach to and live off the monarch during the life of the host. These spores were originally discovered in Florida, with the monarch and queen butterflies being the only known hosts. The infection of OE spores is a worldwide phenomenon, indicating that the parasites and hosts have evolved together.

The OE spores are spread by female butterflies. When they lay eggs, the spores are left behind as well. When the caterpillar eats a portion of that leaf, the spores move to the innards of the caterpillar, where the parasite matures and replicates. When the caterpillar pupates, the parasite attaches to the cocoon. When the butterfly emerges, the spores attach to the body of the butterfly, particularly on the abdomen.

Those butterflies that are heavily infected with OE die shortly after leaving the cocoon. The infection causes wing deformities and a heavier abdomen, causing the butterfly to stay grounded. Many of them fall from the cocoon and die. Others stay on the ground and are unable to feed, causing them to weaken, thus weakening future generations as well.

There is hope. OE spread is worse in areas with butterflies that are nonmigratory. Due to the constant motion of migration, there is less time for the infection to spread and less time for the spores to develop (since caterpillars need to eat them for the spores to reproduce). However, there is growing concern in areas where the monarch does not migrate. No matter where the disease is flourishing, there are ways to help lower the mortality rate. But that is for another article.

Possible OE victims soon after emergence © Eunice Smith, Miami, Florida

Painted Lady Pays a Visit
by Mary Ellen Ryall

Shell Lake, Wisconsin, USA - I was visiting Marvin Schaefer, a retired beekeeper, recently. He still keeps a few hives for his own honey. While admiring the first crocus flowers during our April visit, along came a painted lady (Vanessa cardui), splashing her colors in front of us and nectaring on early spring flowers. At the time we were talking about the Morph Your Mind! Environmental Education (MYM! EE) Program taking place in Shell Lake this summer.

Marvin mentioned that he is helping Aaron Merchant with beekeeping. The young man was married only a week when he was seriously injured in the Cortec Spray Technology explosion in Spooner, Wisconsin, on March 18. Aaron was just starting to raise his own bees when the accident occurred. When Aaron learned that Marvin was going to be a keynote speaker at the August 20 MYM! EE Program on August 30 at 6:30 p.m., he said, “I am planning on being well enough to come.” Marvin mentioned that his bee talk would be about the time that Aaron would be coming home from the hospital. It turns out the painted lady came with a hopeful message on a sunny spring day.

Painted lady © Mike Reese, Wisconsin Butterflies

Horsemint Nectar Plant for Karner Blue Butterfly

Gordon, Wisconsin, USA - According to Anna Martineau Merritt, nature photographer, horsemint (Monarda punctata) loves to grow in little villages. The plant, also known as dotted mint, is a biennial or short-lived perennial. It easily colonizes in sandy soil.

The Monarch Butterfly Habitat will start a small colony with a few transplants from Dragonfly Gardens in Amery, Wisconsin. Jim Riemer, of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, pointed out that horsemint is a plant that doesn’t easily seed itself. The endangered Karner blue butterfly (Lycaeides melissa samuelis) is dependent upon this plant as a nectar source.

Horsemint flowers are yellowish and purple dotted, in tiered whorls, with yellowish to lilac bracts beneath. In Ojibwa culture, the plant was traditionally used to treat a sick stomach. Horsemint has a strong aroma and is related to bee balm and wild bergamot. Wild bergamot also grows in the Monarch Butterfly Habitat in Shell Lake, Wisconsin.

Horsemint © Anna Martineau Merritt/Misty Pine Photography

A Child and Monarch Butterfly Encounter
by Agnes Kennard

Wascott, Wisconsin, USA – Agnes Kennard recently submitted a photograph of Brooke, a summer visitor to her family cabin in Wascott. Kennard wrote, “We leave milkweed plants grow wild in our asparagus garden as we all, kids and adults, like to watch the stages of development of the monarch. The kids race around peeking under leaves and counting the caterpillars, etc. It is a part of their vacation that they anticipate each year.”

Minong, Wisconsin, USA – Northwood Community Education, in conjunction with the Spooner Garden Club, hosted their eighth New Ventures Gardening Seminar held in Minong at the Northwood School on March 15.

Happy Tonics hosted an exhibit on the Monarch Butterfly Habitat that is being implemented in Shell Lake, Wisconsin. The habitat is to open in the summer of 2008. Over 250 people attended the event. Many of the attendees visited the exhibit to sign up and learn more about the Monarch Butterfly Habitat.