Monarch butterfly numbers drop, migration may disappear
The stunning and little-understood annual migration of millions of Monarch butterflies to spend the winter in Mexico is in danger of disappearing, experts said Wednesday, after numbers dropped to their lowest level since record-keeping began in 1993.
Boomtown for butterflies: Have you noticed? There’s a lot of feasting and fluttering going on in downtown Columbus
If ever there was a case of “build it and they will come,” the Lowndes County Master Gardeners found it. What they built is a 4,000-square-foot butterfly garden at the Columbus Riverwalk. And, indeed, the winged insects have come, clad in brilliant coats of autumn amber, ultramarine and buttercup yellow. The pipevine swallowtails, eastern tigers and little skippers, the Gulf fritillaries and monarchs. Cloudless sulphurs, buckeyes, too.
Local landscapes: Gardening with butterflies
They float, they flutter, they drift, and sometimes they just ride the wind. Butterflies of all shapes, sizes and colors can usually be seen in Mississippi during this month. Creating a garden space to attract these butterflies can be easy if you do a few things right.