Monarch Butterfly Research Paper

The Danaus Plexippi, known as the Monarch Butterfly, is considered to be the king of all butterflies for their beautiful orange and black colored wings and their incredible ability to migrate long distances such as, California and Mexico in large populations. Biologists have calculated distance of these arduous journeys to be 3000 miles, which is the longest journey that any insect can travel. Monarch butterflies are also unique in that generations of these species are able to migrate in the same route without a foreknowledge of the direction. Unfortunately, recent observations have shown a rapid decrease of the Monarch Butterfly population during their annual migration to the south and west, which is a huge concern for many Biologists. The causes of such a rapid dwindle in the population include climate change; low production of milkweed in the resting sites and …show more content…
The parasite affects the morphological factors such as low survival rates, smaller, smaller body mass, smaller wings, short life spans and the flight ability during migrations. Higher dosages of spores caused shorter lifespans in males, which in turn affects a low successful mating. High dosages of spores in females caused weight gain, which affected their activity levels. However, positive finds have shown a possible prevention in the spread of the parasites, such as the milk weed containing agents that could kill the parasite, defense mechanism of the monarch butterfly choosing to deposit her eggs on non-infected milkweed and the long-distance flights would eliminate infected species, which would decrease the parasite’s survival in the wild. Though more research and experimentation required to figuring out solutions that prevent the spread of parasites in non-migratory populations such as in South Florida, which has a higher rate of