Thank you so much Annie-Get-Your-Gun for this amazing series of gorgeously colored butterflies.... A close by butterfly bush is treasure to find... every day on my walk I pass by one and always stop to behold these wonderful "Treasures of Nature"

Albeit the imagery of the monarch butterfly brings tears to my eyes... Sadly monarchs teeter on the edge of an extinction tipping point—at which their numbers drop too low for the species to recover. September use to be an epic event here in Virginia where the sky was full of these migrating gems of nature... The recent The creation of herbicide-resistant corn and soybeans has allowed farmers could eradicate weeds and other understory plants, including milkweed (upon which monarchs depend on), that competed with their crops. Now I only see an occasional monarch rather than hundreds this time of year...

Bottom Line? This once noble and charismatic butterfly which makes one of the longest known insect migrations (over a 1000 miles) has been reduced to less than 10% of it's former number.... and that value is falling quickly... all because of the huge increase in the use of herbicides which destroy its habit. Yes please treasure your images of the endangered monarch... it is on the fast tract to extinction...

Again thank you so much for sharing Annie-Get-Your-Gun... I deeply appreciate those beautiful images.