King Butterfly - The famous North American butterfly is in danger of extinction

Scientists have included monarch butterflies in the red list because statistics show that the number of monarch butterflies (also known as monarch butterflies) - a famous butterfly species in North America is rapidly decreasing, causing this insect to advance. one more step to the brink of extinction.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature has added the monarch butterfly to its "red list" for the first time and classified it as "endangered" - two steps away from extinction.

 The monarch butterfly has been in a serious decline since 1990.

"It's a serious decline," said Stuart Pimm, an ecologist at Duke University. "This is one of the most recognizable butterflies in the world," he added.

The team estimates that monarch butterfly populations in North America have declined by 22% to 72% within 10 years, depending on statistical methods.

'What we're worried about is the rate of decline,' said Nick Haddad, a conservation biologist at Michigan State University. "It's easy to imagine how quickly this butterfly could be pushed into a more endangered state."

Haddad, who was not directly involved in making the list, estimates that the number of monarch butterfly species he studies in the eastern United States has decreased by 85% to 95% since the 1990s.

In North America, millions of monarch butterflies have undertaken the longest migration of any known insect.

After wintering in the mountains of central Mexico, they migrate north, continuing to breed thousands of miles away. The chicks reach southern Canada and then begin their journey back to Mexico in late summer.

 North American monarch butterflies.

'It's a real sight, and it's absolutely stunning,' said Anna Walker, a conservation biologist at the New Mexico BioPark Society.

More monarch butterflies stay in coastal California for the winter, then disperse in spring and summer across several states west of the Rocky Mountains. This is an even more severe drop than for eastern monarch butterflies, although there was a small rebound last winter.

Emma Pelton, of the non-profit Xerces Society, an organization that monitors western butterflies, said the butterflies were struggling due to habitat loss and the overuse of herbicides and pesticides. pesticides for agriculture, besides, part of the reason also comes from climate change.

"There are things people can do to help, like growing milkweed, a plant that caterpillars depend on," she said.

The United States has not listed the monarch butterfly as endangered, but several environmental groups claim there is sufficient basis for it to be listed.

 The monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) is a species of butterfly in the subfamily Danainae, in the family Nymphalidae. As the most famous butterfly in North America, the monarch butterfly is known for its impressive migration across the region. Each fall, millions of monarch butterflies undertake the longest migration ever recorded among insects. This butterfly will fly thousands of kilometers from breeding areas in the eastern United States and Canada to Mexico and California to spend the winter months there.