BUTTERFLIES Our biggest local butterfly – the Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
I wonder how many of us are aware that here in our part of the Costa del Sol, we have large numbers of the well known Monarch butterfly, living and breeding and thriving. Along the shores of the Straight of Gibraltar and inland for some ten kilometers, there are several colonies from Tarifa to Manilva. Before about 1980, Spain’s only colony was in the Canaries, but sufficient individuals have been blown by the winds to set up a local colony on our doorstep. See: Castellar Sendero de la Mariposa Monarca on Wikiloc.com - and others. The Monarch is well known because of the vast flocks that live on both the east and west coasts of the USA, and migrate every year to the southern states and Mexico. In fact, their popularity is so great that, in the USA the butterflies have been reared artificially by individuals and by schools and other groups interested in monitoring the species. There is also a commercial aspect to artificial breeding. It has become more common for hundreds of monarchs to be released at weddings – instead of confetti, and at the memorial services of the 9/11 attack, captive-bred monarchs have been released in huge numbers. In addition, it is, so far, the only butterfly to have been taken into outer space, to the International Space Station for research purposes, and where it emerged successfully from its pupa, and also was the first type of butterfly to have its genome fully sequenced. While some biologists consider that rearing large numbers of Monarch by untrained people runs the risk of the development of parasites specific to the Monarch that may be detrimental to the species, so far, no widespread problems have been noted. Others have claimed that captive-reared Monarchs do not survive migration as well as naturally bred insects. But seeing the butterflies laying eggs that then turn into larvae (caterpillars) in a week or so, and onwards into pupae (chrysalis) and two weeks later, into an adult butterfly reaching sexual maturity in 4 or 5 days, and starting the process all over again, must be a great educational experience for young and old alike. 27
