Butterfly Couples in Garden

by Karen Adams

Title

Butterfly Couples in Garden

Artist

Karen Adams

Medium

Photograph - Fine Art Digital Prints - Photography

Description

You may have to look closely at this one to see all four butterflies. There are two Orange Sulphurs and two mating Monarchs. Watching the miracle of butterfly life cycles is really quite fascinating! Mating monarchs can remain together for 16 hours or longer, and you can see the male fly about carrying the female! The eggs are actually not fertilized until just before the female lays the eggs on her chosen host plant, which can be months after mating! Monarchs must find Milkweed plants, so this enables the female to find the proper plant for her 'babies.' 100 eggs may be deposited by each female, with only about 2% making it to adult butterfly form. There are several reasons for this high mortality rate.
The most important causes include climatic conditions (wind, drought and rain); diseases caused by virus and bacteria; and predators.

I know in central Ohio there is a large group of dedicated concerned citizens who have taken it upon themselves to harvest the eggs, protect them and feed them Milkweed until they release them as beautiful adult Monarchs! I have let milkweed grow where ever it takes root in my garden, (sometimes in not ideal spots) but in hopes to boost the numbers of butterflies. This year we have seen quite an increase in numbers to our great delight! On a number of days this Fall, I have had a dozen Monarchs flying around my garden. It is a breathtaking sight. There is a lot of work to be done to get the numbers back to what they were a decade ago, but it is encouraging to see that regular people can and are making a difference!

To find out more about what we can all do, I encourage you to visit:
http://www.monarchwatch.org/

I really appreciate you taking time to look at my artwork. Thank you so much!

I am very concerned with our environment and have decided to donate any money I make from any sales of this image to the ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND.....because the Earth needs a good lawyer! We all need to speak up and support efforts to protect our environment. We will not get a second chance!


**The watermark stamp will not appear on any purchased items. All images are protected by copyright law and cannot be reproduced in any form without the express written consent of the artist.**

Uploaded

October 23rd, 2018

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Viewed 145 Times  -  Last Visitor from Oklahoma City, OK on 04/20/2024 at 4:44 PM

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