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Monarch Waystations and Other Interesting Tidbits

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What is a Monarch Waystation?

A "Waystation" may be defined as an intermediate station between principal stations on a line of travel. If we imagine the principal stations for monarchs to be the over-wintering sites in Mexico and the points of reproduction in the breeding season, then it becomes easy for us to visualize the value of resource-rich waystations along the monarch's route through its annual fall and spring migrations. Without resources - in the form of nectar from flowers - fall migratory butterflies would be unable to make the journey to Mexico. Similarly, without milkweeds along the entire route north in the spring and summer months, monarchs would not be able to produce the successive generation that culminate in the migration each fall.

By creating and maintaining a Monarch Waystation we are contributing to monarch conservation and are helping to assure the continuation of the monarch migration in North America. Our efforts will also provide habitats for other species, including many pollinators - a rapidly declining and under-appreciated, yet important, group of species. By educating others about monarchs and the need to provide habitats for wildlife we hope to help raise the public's awareness of important conservation issues.

"Create a Waystation to help the Monarch Butterfly", by Theresa Friday, pdf file

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