For those wanting to plant milkweed: not all milkweed is a Monarch host. Of the known Monarch hosts, there is minimal documentation of which is the "best" for a

For those wanting to plant milkweed: not all milkweed is a Monarch host. Of the known Monarch hosts, there is minimal documentation of which is the "best" for a Monarch. It's recommended that you pick a host native to your area. Page 93 on the following document[1] includes some species that are helpful to Monarch populations, broken down by area of the United States. For those who would like to purchase caterpillar stock to increase the local population, please reconsider. Bred Monarchs have a lack of genetic diversity that you are releasing in the wild, which can tip over populations due to poor genetics. There is research that shows that planting evergreen milkweed (encouraging sedentary behavior by removing the need to migrate), or releasing captive or reared monarchs, can allow unhealthy monarchs to survive and harm the population when they would not otherwise have survived migrations[2] Studies on bugs or and species have shown that animals can adapt to captive conditions in as short as one or two generations. When this happens, researchers wind up seeing alleles that are harmful to the wild population. [3] There is also the case to be made that by releasing abundant numbers, you are potentially creating food shortages that will harm even more butterflies. Plant local natives. Don't release into the wild. [1] http://www.xerces.org/sites/default/files/2018-05/17-031_02_XercesSoc_Milkweeds-Conservation-Guide_web.pdf http://www.xerces.org/sites/default/files/2018-05/17-031_02_... [2] https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2014.1734 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2014.173... [3] https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1365-294X.2007.03399.x https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1365-294X....