Jun 15, 2021 to Jun 17, 2021
New research on monarchs by Iowa State University scientists offers important insights to those trying to boost populations by planting habitat close to corn and soybean fields.
The research indicates maximum increases in Iowa monarch populations are expected if habitat is established near crop fields, assuming that Integrated Pest Management recommendations are used, and insecticide spray drift management practices are followed.
The research helps answer important questions related to the long-term sustainability of North America's eastern monarch butterfly
Establishing habitat, which includes milkweed and blooming wildflowers, is key to reversing the species' decline and ensuring its survival. An important region in which to create habitat includes the agriculturally dominated north-central U.S., the monarch's prime summer breeding grounds. There, seed-treatment and foliar insecticides are routinely used on crop fields from mid‐May to late August, coinciding with monarchs' peak breeding periods in the region.