Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/313059
In the fall, millions of Monarch butterflies travel 2,000 miles from the Eastern U.S. to a 50-acre pine forest in southern Mexico. In spring, they return, stopping along the Gulf Coasts of Texas and Florida to lay eggs on milkweed. After they hatch, the young butter- flies continue their migration north through several generations before the cycle starts all over again. Mechanized agriculture has largely eliminated milkweed along the edges of fields. That, along with problems related to parasites, threatens the very existence of these beautiful creatures. You can create a "Monarch way station" by planting native milkweed. Monarch Watch, a nonprofit, will provide free plants to qualifying schools and other nonprofits. In The Origin of Species, Charles Darwin wrote, "[F]rom so simple a beginning, endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved." Butterflies insist on being beautiful. Painted Lady at the service station Zebra Longwing on butterfly weed. Sarasota News Leader May 16, 2014 Page 104