Japanese beetles’ feeding on milkweed flowers may compromise efforts to restore monarch butterfly habitat
Abstract The eastern North American migratory population of monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) is in serious decline. Habitat restoration, including adding millions of host plants to compensate for loss of milkweed in US cropland, is a key part of the international conservation strategy to retur...
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Nature Portfolio
2018-08-01
|
| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-30731-z |
| _version_ | 1818995237597478912 |
|---|---|
| author | Adam M. Baker Daniel A. Potter |
| author_facet | Adam M. Baker Daniel A. Potter |
| author_sort | Adam M. Baker |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The eastern North American migratory population of monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) is in serious decline. Habitat restoration, including adding millions of host plants to compensate for loss of milkweed in US cropland, is a key part of the international conservation strategy to return this iconic butterfly to sustainable status. We report here that Popillia japonica, a polyphagous, invasive beetle, aggregates and feeds on flowers of Asclepias syriaca, the monarch’s most important larval food plant, reducing fruiting and seed set by >90% and extensively damaging milkweed umbels in the field. The beetle’s ongoing incursion into the monarch’s key breeding grounds in the US Midwest is likely to limit pollination and outcrossing of wild and planted milkweeds, reducing their capacity to colonize new areas via seeds. Popillia japonica represents a previously undocumented threat to milkweeds that should be considered in models for monarch habitat restoration. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-20T21:10:39Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2bbeccff35eb43b09c04da4ff376af13 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-20T21:10:39Z |
| publishDate | 2018-08-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-2bbeccff35eb43b09c04da4ff376af132022-12-21T19:26:32ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222018-08-01811610.1038/s41598-018-30731-zJapanese beetles’ feeding on milkweed flowers may compromise efforts to restore monarch butterfly habitatAdam M. Baker0Daniel A. Potter1Department of Entomology, University of KentuckyDepartment of Entomology, University of KentuckyAbstract The eastern North American migratory population of monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) is in serious decline. Habitat restoration, including adding millions of host plants to compensate for loss of milkweed in US cropland, is a key part of the international conservation strategy to return this iconic butterfly to sustainable status. We report here that Popillia japonica, a polyphagous, invasive beetle, aggregates and feeds on flowers of Asclepias syriaca, the monarch’s most important larval food plant, reducing fruiting and seed set by >90% and extensively damaging milkweed umbels in the field. The beetle’s ongoing incursion into the monarch’s key breeding grounds in the US Midwest is likely to limit pollination and outcrossing of wild and planted milkweeds, reducing their capacity to colonize new areas via seeds. Popillia japonica represents a previously undocumented threat to milkweeds that should be considered in models for monarch habitat restoration.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-30731-z |
| spellingShingle | Adam M. Baker Daniel A. Potter Japanese beetles’ feeding on milkweed flowers may compromise efforts to restore monarch butterfly habitat Scientific Reports |
| title | Japanese beetles’ feeding on milkweed flowers may compromise efforts to restore monarch butterfly habitat |
| title_full | Japanese beetles’ feeding on milkweed flowers may compromise efforts to restore monarch butterfly habitat |
| title_fullStr | Japanese beetles’ feeding on milkweed flowers may compromise efforts to restore monarch butterfly habitat |
| title_full_unstemmed | Japanese beetles’ feeding on milkweed flowers may compromise efforts to restore monarch butterfly habitat |
| title_short | Japanese beetles’ feeding on milkweed flowers may compromise efforts to restore monarch butterfly habitat |
| title_sort | japanese beetles feeding on milkweed flowers may compromise efforts to restore monarch butterfly habitat |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-30731-z |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT adammbaker japanesebeetlesfeedingonmilkweedflowersmaycompromiseeffortstorestoremonarchbutterflyhabitat AT danielapotter japanesebeetlesfeedingonmilkweedflowersmaycompromiseeffortstorestoremonarchbutterflyhabitat |