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Growing milkweed from seed is one of the easiest ways to help declining monarch butterflies. In December 2024, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed monarch butterflies, whose numbers in the ...
A mountain mint plant will draw butterflies and bees but repel deer and rabbits from your garden. ... If you love minty herbal tea, try adding a mountain mint plant or two to your garden.
Monarch caterpillars deter predators by incorporating these chemical compounds into their bodies, where the toxins remain throughout the insect's lifetime. [51] Although monarch caterpillars will feed on butterfly weed (A. tuberosa) in butterfly gardens, it is typically not a heavily used host plant for the species. [52]
Other common names include bloodflower or blood flower, [3] cotton bush, [6] hierba de la cucaracha, [3] Mexican butterfly weed, redhead, [6] scarlet milkweed, [3] and wild ipecacuanha. [ 3 ] It is grown as an ornamental garden plant and as a food source for some butterflies , however it may be harmful to the migration patterns of monarch ...
Although monarch caterpillars will feed on butterfly weed (A. tuberosa) in butterfly gardens, it is typically not a heavily used host plant for the species. [238] The plant has rough leaves and a layer of trichomes , which may inhibit oviposition or decrease a female's ability to sense leaf chemicals.
A monarch butterfly feeding on milkweed. (Shutterstock) The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is pushing for added protections for the monarch butterfly after seeing a population decline of about 80%.
Research indicates that the very high cardenolide content of Asclepias linaria reduces the impact of the Ophryocystis elektroscirrha (OE) parasite on the monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus. The OE parasite causes holes to form in the wings of fully developed monarch butterflies. This causes weakened endurance and an inability to migrate.
The species is therefore often planted in butterfly gardens and "Monarch Waystations" to help sustain monarch butterfly populations. [21] However, A. incarnata is an early successional plant that usually grows at the margins of wetlands and in seasonally flooded areas. [22]