Studying the secrets of how the common red milkweed beetle can safely feed on a toxic plant helps illuminate the ecological, evolutionary and economic impact of insect-plant interactions from a ...

Milkweed plants purchased at retail nurseries across the United States were contaminated with pesticides harmful to monarch caterpillars that rely on milkweed, a study led by researchers at the ...

What’s special about milkweed? Milkweed (genus Asclepias) is the host plant, the only source of food, for the monarch caterpillar. If the monarch butterfly does not find milkweed, it will not lay any ...

The iconic monarch butterfly is declining across North America. You can help make a difference by providing the species with its food plant: milkweed. A monarch butterfly gliding over a field on ...

Many of us encourage milkweed to grow in our yards because it’s a host plant for monarch butterflies. When caterpillars eat milkweed, its toxins shield them against predators. But in humans and pets, ...

We have been encouraging our backyard milkweed to grow ever since we moved over five years ago. I have friends who have issues with the aggressive growth of milkweed. We don’t have this problem. We ...

New, local research provides some of the first evidence that a popular group of insecticides might be killing young monarch butterflies. The milkweed plants the butterflies need to survive may also ...

North America is home to many iconic living species: bald eagles, grizzly bears, bison and monarch butterflies. But monarch butterflies in the U.S. might not be around much longer. The migratory ...

This behavior by the fluttering insects was so unusual that scientists had to invent a new word to describe it. By Annie Roth Butterflies seem gentle as they flutter from plant to plant. But some may ...

A mating pair of red milkweed beetles pictured in the spring of 2024 on the University of Arkansas campus in Fayetteville. FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Studying the secrets of how the common red milkweed ...