As odd as it may seem, mowing down milkweed can help monarch butterflies.
As odd as it may seem, mowing down milkweed can help monarch butterflies.
University of Guelph researchers have found that cutting down milkweed where monarch butterflies lay their eggs and where caterpillars feed benefits the vulnerable insects — but only if mowing is timed strategically.
According to a new paper published in the journal Global Ecology and Conservation, researchers studying milkweed in southern Ontario found the plant should be cut down once in mid-July, before most monarchs have begun laying their eggs, and then not again for the rest of the summer.
That, they say, is the best way to allow monarch populations to grow, as the butterflies prefer to lay eggs on younger milkweed plants.
Continue reading at University of Guelph.
Image via Samantha Knight.
