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Copy+pasting my comment from another thread: For those wanting to plant milkweed: not all milkweed is a Monarch host. Of the known Monarch hosts, there is mini
by chomp 4y ago
Copy+pasting my comment from another thread:
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....
- angst_ridden 4y agoThere was a big trend to planting tropical milkweed (Asclepias curassavica) on the West Coast. Originally, it was considered a good thing. Now, because the plant's a perennial in this climate and is a good place for spreading OE spores, it's considered a bad thing. Some people advocate growing it because it's fast-growing, robust, and provides plentiful food. My understanding is that, if you do plant it, cut it well down in winter to prevent the spread of OE. In my own experience in California, the Monarchs really prefer to nectar and lay eggs on tropical rather than the native narrow-leaf milkweed (Asclepias fascicularis). We've been purging our garden of the tropical anyway. There are also some milkweed adjacent non-natives that they sort of like, e.g., Gomphocarpus physocarpus (aka Asclepias physocarpa). Again, my understanding is that the jury's out as to whether it's a good plant to have around for the Monarchs. It ceryainly is a striking plant that gets a lot of attention!
- chomp 4y agoYep, +1 to all of that. We have a combination of species planted (Texas), I don't really track which ones they favor. It makes it sort of easy to time cutting back the Tropical in that case, because when the others die back, you can cut back the tropical as well.
- sixothree 4y agoDoes dill grow well there or present any issues?
- angst_ridden 4y agoI don't think dill presents any issues, but we haven't planted any. We have a lot of bronze fennel (which is non-native but heavily naturalized), and it's a host plant for the swallowtail butterflies. We get a lot of them too.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- pvg 4y agohttps://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&query=author%3Adang%20copy%20paste&sort=byDate&type=comment https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que...