Need monarch butterfly advice - urgent

[James Bond 007]

I planted a whole bunch of milkweed seed in a flower bed I've I've got in my backyard a few weeks ago.

Though, now my cat is using that flower bed as a litter box. :P Hope the seeds survive!

[puginabug]

Originally Posted by James Bond 007

I planted a whole bunch of milkweed seed in a flower bed I've I've got in my backyard a few weeks ago.

Though, now my cat is using that flower bed as a litter box. :P Hope the seeds survive!

They most likely will. They aren’t called milkWEED for nothin!

[James Bond 007]

Another thing I started doing this fall was collecting the seeds from my milkweed plants and then going to some nearby trails and other weedy areas and scattering the seeds there. Hope they sprout! Kind of like a "Johnny Milkweedseed." ;-)

[fisheye]

Originally Posted by guidoLaMoto

As everyone knows, the reason they fly south for the winter is because it's too far to walk.


I'm always amazed at how fast large butterflies can fly-- as fast as birds over short distances-- 20 or 30 mph. Consider how light they are and the effects of wind resistance. Compare it to throwing a wad of tissue paper which quickly reaches its terminal velocity no matter how hard you heave it.

When it comes to the butterfly's migration there is some research that suggest that they use the prevailing winds: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2929297/, If you scroll half way down that article to the section titled "Other navigational mechanisms" you can see some of that research. It amazes me that an insect, with such a small brain, can navigate thousands of miles and we, with our 'great brains', can have trouble leaving our neighborhood!