Heather Halsey looked out her kitchen window Friday morning and watched a lone monarch butterfly flit from milkweed plant to milkweed plant.
She recalled a similar morning three years ago, when her farm was covered with thousands of the brightly colored insects.
For Halsey, and many other fans of the beloved monarchs, it’s tragic proof of the butterflies declining population around the country.
The migrating monarch butterfly for the first time was added to the “red list” of threatened species this week by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and categorized as “endangered” — two steps from extinction. The group estimates that the population of monarch butterflies in North America has declined between 22 percent and 72 percent over 10 years, depending on the measurement method.
Though monarch butterflies have been a common sight during Maine summers, the population declines here are due to environmental conditions in the butterflies’ wintering grounds more than 3,000 miles away in Mexico, according to one of the state’s top wildlife biologists. Because of that, there is not much Mainers can do to turn the tide for the monarchs.
“This decline in monarch butterfly populations is not specific to Maine,” said Nate Webb, director of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife’s wildlife division. “It’s likely due to issues related to climate change and uses of pesticides.”
In North America, millions of monarch butterflies undertake the longest migration of any insect species known to science.
After wintering in the mountains of central Mexico, the butterflies migrate to the north, breeding multiple generations along the way for thousands of miles. The offspring that reach southern Canada then begin the trip back to Mexico at the end of summer.
At both ends and along the way, the butterflies rely on milkweed, a plant the monarch requires for its lifecycle.
That’s why people like Halsey eschew a mowed, manicured lawn of green grass and instead plant species that attract and sustain pollinators, including monarch butterflies.
“The monarchs are in the egg-laying process now, and they only lay their eggs on milkweed,” Halsey said. “Where I live, it’s a pretty rural area, but most people around here mow their lawns.”
While she is happy to see any monarchs on her plants, Halsey knows the reduced numbers are signs of a much larger problem.
“There are just not a lot of areas left natural,” she said. “It’s not just the monarchs, many species are struggling and as we develop more areas, don’t protect farmland, cut down our forests and mow lawns there is nothing left for animals to eat.”
In Maine, the monarchs are listed as a species of greatest conservation need.
“Most of the information we have that led us to that listing was based on the surveys from the [Mexico] wintering grounds,” Webb said. “It’s a non-regulatory listing and we know we have some concerns but not a lot of information on how they are doing in Maine.”
Species of greatest conservation needs are any that require specific habitats or landscapes to survive and reproduce.
Because the biggest problems the monarchs face are so far away, Webb said it is difficult for any one Mainer to help the population.
But that is no excuse for doing nothing.
“It’s not something any one person can solve, but if people can manage their property to promote milkweed, or at least not discourage its growth, that is a great thing to do,” Webb said. “Being aware of pesticides is important as well.”
He was not surprised to see the monarch listed as endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and predicted the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife will likely put it on the national endangered list in the future.
Webb is one of thousands of Mainers who, in elementary school, studied monarch butterflies by watching them go from caterpillar to chrysalis and finally emerge as an adult butterfly.
“I did the monarch project in third grade,” he said. “It was so common back then to find a chrysalis and bring it back into the classroom — that would be a lot harder to do now.”
Webb said the insect’s great beauty and gentle nature make it a much beloved species on the Maine landscape.
“They are just iconic,” Halsey said. “They are the ones that, as children, we raise and watch hatch and have such beauty.”
Halsey has seen a few of the butterflies in recent days laying eggs on her milkweed, and that gives her a bit of optimism for the future.
“I know there are areas in Mexico where the numbers are down to 2,000 butterflies from 10 million,” she said. “So no, the news did not surprise me. It just made me sad.”
