The Language of Butterflies by Wendy Williams
Author:Wendy Williams
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Published: 2020-06-02T00:00:00+00:00
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All they need is nectar, water, and shelter from the sun and wind, James explained. In fact, the first few generations of monarchs over that summer had done particularly well. Despite appearances, there had been “lots” of rain (his word; definitely not mine) over the winter and well into the spring. The milkweed had flourished. Although the place was parched now in late August, he said, monarch fertility over the summer had been high because the water levels had remained high.
I asked about the heat.
It does affect them, he admitted, particularly if it lasts over long periods of time. In 2015, he said, there were weeks of temperatures that reached as high as 115 degrees. The butterflies had suffered. At such high temperatures, the butterfly’s development slows down. The insects are more vulnerable to predators. Despite the heat, James’s long-term studies suggest, the insects that come here may be long-term residents and are not just passing through. When they arrive at this site during their spring migration, they seem to stay and breed, rather than moving on. That, he believes, means that they must be finding everything they need right here in this tiny oasis-like area.
James is an expert in biological pest control who specializes in advising vineyards. His monarch conservation work is done entirely as a volunteer, paid for out of his own pocket. “Beauty with Benefits” is his theme during his day job, as he tries to convince vineyard managers that they can save money by cutting down on pesticide use while planting native wildflower gardens. The idea is to lure in beneficial insects to help control the ones that destroy the grapevines. He’s an advocate, not surprisingly, of planting milkweed around vineyards to attract a variety of beneficial insects, such as bees, that will help limit more harmful insect species.
And as a happy side effect, you’ll get more butterflies, he likes to point out. Butterflies don’t discourage harmful insects, he admits, but they do wonders for the human psyche. No matter what he is talking about, butterflies seem to find their way into James’s conversation. It’s been this way since he was eight years old and found a caterpillar in his backyard in England. He reared and released it, and from then on he intended to become a naturalist. By 1970, while still a child, he was already publishing articles in local papers encouraging people to plant stinging nettles in their English gardens. (Many butterfly species love them.)
Like the monarchs he loves, James is a migrant. From Manchester he traveled to Australia, where he earned his doctorate studying the populations of monarchs thriving on the island continent. The species, not native to Australia, somehow made its way across the Pacific and was first noted in Sydney in 1871, where it has been quite common ever since. The popular name there is not “monarch” but “wanderer.”
“The butterflies got to Australia, we think, on their own, by crossing the Pacific in a gradual spread from island to island.
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