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Questions and Answers:Q. I am seeing more and more butterflies this fall. I just moved to the area and thought butterflies were something you see more of in the spring. Can you give me some information on the butterflies I am seeing? Many of them are orange and black. A. The black and orange butterflies you are seeing are Monarchs. The Monarch butterfly migration route goes right over Milam County. After several years of decline in the Monarch population, anyone who lives around here has probably seen their share of the orange butterfly with black patterns on its wings lately. If you planted lots of butterfly friendly plants that bloom in the fall such as asclepias, or butterfly weed, zinnias or coneflower, you should be rewarded right now with lots of butterfly sightings. The butterfly migration involves millions of monarchs from Canada, whose migration pattern is shaped like a cone as it progresses over Texas. They are on their way to the volcanic mountains of central Mexico. It wasn't until 1975 that the wintering grounds were discovered as they were kept a secret by Mexican villagers for centuries. Disease and logging practices continue to threaten the wintering grounds, but public awareness and tourist dollars are helping to encourage the people who live there to provide some protection for the butterflies. Once they are at the wintering site, they cluster by the millions in trees that grow under the right conditions for the monarchs. This includes foggy, damp and cool weather that is just above freezing. The cooler weather is important because it makes their body processes or metabolism slow down so they don't have to look for nutrition during the winter. The sites are 10,000 feet above sea level and involve a very small area that stays close to freezing. The foggy conditions also provide the moisture the butterflies need during the winter. The last two weeks of March bring the Monarchs back to east Central Texas as the female butterflies look for one of the 14 varieties of native Texas milkweed (Asclepius) on which to lay eggs. A variety of native milkweed is blooming at some time all summer. That is why preserving natural space is so important in Milam County and surrounding areas. After laying their eggs, the monarchs that over wintered in Mexico soon die. The orange and black caterpillars grow rapidly, metamorphose, and lay eggs to begin the cycle again. The monarchs born in the spring and summer only live a short while, three to five weeks, while the monarchs born in the fall live the 9 months it takes to migrate to Mexico and back. Since each female lays hundreds of eggs, the southern U.S. is repopulated every year with lots of the beautiful monarchs. Other butterflies you might see this time of year are the Black Swallowtail, which is black and with some blue and a double row of little orange dots on the wings, the Giant Swallowtail which is the largest of our native butterflies and is yellow and black and the Viceroy, which looks like the Monarch but is a darker orange and slightly smaller. Don’t forget that the hummingbird migration to Mexico is also gearing up. If you’ve kept your feeders full all summer, you should be rewarded with many hummers around the feeders over the next few weeks. Mix 1 part sugar to 4 parts water for a feeder solution. You do not need to add red food dye. The tiny birds need lots of energy to cross the Gulf of Mexico and to avoid predators like snakes, frogs and fish that eat them while they bathe or rest. Click Here to Ask Me a Gardening Question
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