Scientists estimate the total population of Monarch butterflies has decreased by as much as 90 percent in the last 20 years due to loss of food sources, climate change, and destruction of habitat. This one was photographed drawing nectar from a zinnia in a Jackson County flower garden last week. Another orange butterfly, the Viceroy, which is seen locally, closely resembles the Monarch, but has a horizontal black line that runs in a semicircle across its lower wings. The Monarch does not have that marking.
~photo by Joseph F. Persinger