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I love the Monarch Butterfly. Each year I plant Milkweed in my garden for them. The Milkweed is an essential plant for the Monarch. They lay their eggs on the leaves and feed on the plant through the stages of metamorphosis. During the past few years, in my area, I have seen their numbers decline. Here is some additional information from CBS News as reported on February 9, 2015. The federal government announced plans Monday to protect hundreds of thousands of acres across the country to save the threatened monarch butterfly. The monarch population has gone from an estimated billion butterflies in the mid-1990s to only 35 million last winter, according to the Center for Biological Diversity. Much of that decline is due to threats along their migratory paths and on their breeding and wintering grounds, including the loss of milkweed, the monarch caterpillar's sole food source. In December, the government announced it would consider listing monarch butterflies under the Endangered Species Act. That would provide protection for the butterfly's habitat and prohibit killing or collecting them as well as the interstate or international trade of them except under a federal permit. In January, conservationists warned the annual migration of millions of Monarchs to spend the winter in Mexico is in danger of disappearing after numbers dropped to their lowest level since record keeping began in 1993. Now, insisting the iconic insect known for its marathon migrations can be saved, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is teaming up with two conservation organizations to spend $2 million this year for on-the-ground conservation projects around the country. Credit: CBSnews.com p.s. This cause is very near and dear to my heart - the Monarch in my image is male - notice the black spot on each wing. They are actually pheromone sacks which attracts the female Monarch.