GLAND, SWITZERLAND – The Minnesota State Butterfly is now listed as endangered because of its fast-dwindling population in North America.
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature announced the designation Thursday for the orange-and-black monarch butterflies. The group estimates that populations have declined between 22- and 72 percent over a decade.
The monarch was adopted as the state butterfly in 2000, and about four generations of monarchs are born in Minnesota each summer and live roughly four weeks. Monarch caterpillars appear to feed exclusively on milkweed, which grows throughout Minnesota.
