Lewes has the distinct fortune of being located on a major monarch butterfly migration pathway. Every fall, streams of thousands of monarchs fly across Delaware Bay from Cape May, N.J., headed to their overwintering grounds in Mexico. Unfortunately, the very same insecticides applied to mitigate mosquitos kill monarch butterflies.
Scientific estimates indicate that our precious monarchs have declined as much as 90% in the past 20 years. Just last year, the area of monarch butterflies in their wintering grounds dropped 22%, from seven acres to nearly five-and-a-half acres. Monarchs once covered more than 45 acres of forest. Further declines risk a population collapse and the loss of our iconic butterfly. We simply can’t let that happen. In the words of the late entomologist E.O. Wilson, insects are the little things that run the world. We need insects for our own survival, but they are in steep decline due to pesticides and habitat loss.
So, what can we do? First, avoid using mosquito sprays. In August 2020, thousands of migrating monarchs crossing the Midwest ran into a cloud of the mosquito insecticide permethrin and died. Let’s not let that happen here. Prevent mosquitos from breeding. Standing water is a breeding ground for mosquitos. Enjoy backyard waterfalls and fountains, but eliminate standing water from outdoor containers. Alternatively, dissolvable mosquito dunks available at home improvement stores are an easy, inexpensive and more ecological way of treating mosquitos.
Second, plant flowers that are native to Delaware, such as milkweed, the only plant monarch caterpillars can consume. Ask local garden centers which native plants they sell that are beneficial to pollinators. Please avoid the nonnative butterfly bush. It is the junk food of flowers and can be invasive. Go to homegrownnationalpark.org for even more ideas.
Third, reduce lawn size. Turf grass is an ecological dead zone, particularly when it is sprayed with herbicides. What’s more, chemicals applied to turf grass run untreated into our water supply after a rain.
If each homeowner planted a 3-foot-square area of Delaware native plants and avoided insecticide use, we could appreciably improve the ecology of Sussex County. It wouldn’t cost that much, but the payoff would benefit us immensely. Let’s do it!
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