1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:13,440 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,440 --> 00:00:17,080 Speaker 1: I'm Holly Fry, and I'm Tracy V. Wilson. Tracy, I 4 00:00:17,079 --> 00:00:19,040 Speaker 1: know I have told this story on the show before. 5 00:00:19,079 --> 00:00:21,239 Speaker 1: I think it was on a behind the scenes that 6 00:00:21,320 --> 00:00:24,680 Speaker 1: when I was a kid, I used to write pamphlets 7 00:00:24,880 --> 00:00:28,560 Speaker 1: about science and nature and leave them around the house 8 00:00:28,640 --> 00:00:32,960 Speaker 1: because I thought my family needed to be educated. Those 9 00:00:32,960 --> 00:00:35,600 Speaker 1: are all sourced from our nineteen seventy six editions of 10 00:00:35,640 --> 00:00:41,000 Speaker 1: the world book Encyclopedia Um. Listen. We could talk about 11 00:00:41,040 --> 00:00:44,760 Speaker 1: what a conceited little child I was, but that's a 12 00:00:44,760 --> 00:00:49,320 Speaker 1: different story. But I will tell you that butterflies got 13 00:00:49,400 --> 00:00:53,080 Speaker 1: a lot of coverage in those missives. It was actually 14 00:00:53,120 --> 00:00:55,720 Speaker 1: one of the few topics that got multiple pamphlets written 15 00:00:55,760 --> 00:01:00,240 Speaker 1: about them. It was pretty much like butterflies, fox Is 16 00:01:00,560 --> 00:01:04,319 Speaker 1: and astronomy, where the big repeat items. But most of 17 00:01:04,360 --> 00:01:06,000 Speaker 1: the time it was just a little and when I 18 00:01:06,040 --> 00:01:09,880 Speaker 1: say pamphlets, I mean like a little two pages stapled 19 00:01:09,880 --> 00:01:12,880 Speaker 1: and folded together and everything written in pencil. Like I 20 00:01:12,920 --> 00:01:15,399 Speaker 1: really thought my family was going to study this ridiculous 21 00:01:15,480 --> 00:01:18,160 Speaker 1: business written by like a snooty seven year old but 22 00:01:19,120 --> 00:01:22,399 Speaker 1: in any case, monarchs were a very big favorite, like 23 00:01:22,480 --> 00:01:25,920 Speaker 1: they are for many many kids. We talked about that 24 00:01:25,959 --> 00:01:27,839 Speaker 1: a little bit on the behind the scenes as well. 25 00:01:28,440 --> 00:01:30,840 Speaker 1: We are still those sitting sort of smack dab in 26 00:01:30,880 --> 00:01:33,520 Speaker 1: the middle of the history of monarchs as we know it, 27 00:01:33,880 --> 00:01:35,880 Speaker 1: and the next chapter of that history is really going 28 00:01:35,920 --> 00:01:38,720 Speaker 1: to be up to humans. So I thought we would 29 00:01:38,720 --> 00:01:41,360 Speaker 1: talk today about what we know about these very beautiful 30 00:01:41,360 --> 00:01:43,959 Speaker 1: and flashy insects that are also common enough that most 31 00:01:44,040 --> 00:01:46,080 Speaker 1: of us have familiarity with them if we grew up 32 00:01:46,080 --> 00:01:48,800 Speaker 1: in North America. Talk about how we came to know, 33 00:01:48,840 --> 00:01:50,880 Speaker 1: what we do know about them, and what we're still 34 00:01:50,880 --> 00:01:52,960 Speaker 1: trying to figure out, as well as what parts of 35 00:01:53,000 --> 00:01:56,000 Speaker 1: the story have kind of been misrepresented over the years. 36 00:01:56,760 --> 00:02:00,000 Speaker 1: So the monarch butterfly is probably the most widely recognized 37 00:02:00,200 --> 00:02:03,680 Speaker 1: butterfly in the world. I would say definitely in the US. 38 00:02:04,160 --> 00:02:08,280 Speaker 1: Just hearing the common name, most people can immediately picture it. 39 00:02:08,360 --> 00:02:11,800 Speaker 1: And just in case you can't, this species has bright 40 00:02:11,880 --> 00:02:16,440 Speaker 1: orange wings with black veins and black borders. Those butterflies 41 00:02:16,639 --> 00:02:21,680 Speaker 1: scientific name is then OUs plexipus. It's a milkweed butterfly, 42 00:02:22,040 --> 00:02:25,400 Speaker 1: meaning that it's in the subfamily dana a within the 43 00:02:25,480 --> 00:02:29,360 Speaker 1: family Nymphalidae. We'll talk a little bit about that nomenclature 44 00:02:29,480 --> 00:02:32,240 Speaker 1: in a little bit, but we mentioned milkweat there, and 45 00:02:32,280 --> 00:02:35,680 Speaker 1: that's the primary diet of monarch butterflies, which is unique 46 00:02:35,720 --> 00:02:39,600 Speaker 1: because milkwheat is toxic. It's just about everything else, including humans, 47 00:02:39,720 --> 00:02:42,480 Speaker 1: And that's kind of how monarchs have survived so well 48 00:02:42,520 --> 00:02:46,400 Speaker 1: for so long. They really don't have competition for food source. 49 00:02:46,919 --> 00:02:49,600 Speaker 1: But it also has made them very welcome visitors for 50 00:02:49,680 --> 00:02:53,320 Speaker 1: people who keep livestock. For example, because milkweed is poisonous 51 00:02:53,360 --> 00:02:57,079 Speaker 1: to other animals, a healthy monarch population that can keep 52 00:02:57,120 --> 00:03:01,160 Speaker 1: the plants growth in check reduces dangers to grazing herds. 53 00:03:01,440 --> 00:03:03,880 Speaker 1: When we say poisonous, it's probably not going to kill 54 00:03:03,919 --> 00:03:06,200 Speaker 1: any other animal, but it will make them very ill. 55 00:03:06,800 --> 00:03:10,200 Speaker 1: Adult monarchs will also feed on other flowering plants as 56 00:03:10,200 --> 00:03:14,040 Speaker 1: well as milkweed. Monarchs lay their eggs on the milkweed, 57 00:03:14,120 --> 00:03:17,320 Speaker 1: and then those eggs hatch and the caterpillars are sitting 58 00:03:17,480 --> 00:03:20,480 Speaker 1: right on their food. They eat their little egg first, 59 00:03:20,520 --> 00:03:23,920 Speaker 1: and then they only eat the milkweed. They retain that 60 00:03:23,960 --> 00:03:27,600 Speaker 1: plant's toxin in their bodies. This makes the caterpillars toxic 61 00:03:27,639 --> 00:03:30,960 Speaker 1: to predators, although through the glycosides that they addressed, and 62 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:34,440 Speaker 1: this toxicity stays with the monarch through the pupa stage 63 00:03:34,440 --> 00:03:37,920 Speaker 1: and into adulthood. So this probably won't kill a bird, 64 00:03:38,040 --> 00:03:40,760 Speaker 1: but we'll make it sick if the bird eats the monarch. 65 00:03:40,920 --> 00:03:44,320 Speaker 1: So most birds learn pretty quickly not to mess with them. 66 00:03:44,360 --> 00:03:47,080 Speaker 1: And we mentioned the egg and caterpillar stages of the 67 00:03:47,120 --> 00:03:49,640 Speaker 1: monarch's life cycle, but here's a little bit more detail. 68 00:03:50,440 --> 00:03:53,480 Speaker 1: While the courtship between male and female butterflies of this 69 00:03:53,560 --> 00:03:56,680 Speaker 1: species happens largely in the air, the actual meeting and 70 00:03:56,720 --> 00:04:00,520 Speaker 1: fertilization happens in what's often called ground phase, and then 71 00:04:00,520 --> 00:04:04,400 Speaker 1: the females head to their breeding ground, which sometimes requires migration, 72 00:04:04,560 --> 00:04:06,640 Speaker 1: something we're going to talk about a lot more throughout 73 00:04:06,640 --> 00:04:09,120 Speaker 1: this episode. And then they lay their eggs. As we 74 00:04:09,160 --> 00:04:12,680 Speaker 1: said on milkweed plants, a single female can lay as 75 00:04:12,720 --> 00:04:15,840 Speaker 1: many as three hundred to five hundred eggs over the 76 00:04:15,880 --> 00:04:19,200 Speaker 1: course of several weeks. And when the caterpillars hatch, as 77 00:04:19,240 --> 00:04:22,279 Speaker 1: Tracy said, they start to munch. And the caterpillars of 78 00:04:22,320 --> 00:04:25,279 Speaker 1: monarchs are black, yellow and white stripe. They're even pretty 79 00:04:25,279 --> 00:04:29,279 Speaker 1: interesting looking. In that stage, it takes about two weeks 80 00:04:29,320 --> 00:04:31,719 Speaker 1: for monarchs to go through their egg and larva stages. 81 00:04:32,120 --> 00:04:35,600 Speaker 1: Once they've reached full size as a caterpillar, loaded up 82 00:04:35,600 --> 00:04:38,360 Speaker 1: with all those glycosides from their food source, they enter 83 00:04:38,400 --> 00:04:42,760 Speaker 1: the pupa stage. Pupation is when the monarch caterpillar forms 84 00:04:42,760 --> 00:04:45,640 Speaker 1: a case around its body, known as a chrysalist. Normally 85 00:04:45,640 --> 00:04:49,320 Speaker 1: this hangs from the underside of the milkweed leaf inside 86 00:04:49,360 --> 00:04:53,520 Speaker 1: the crysalis. Over period of nine to fifteen days, metamorphosis 87 00:04:53,560 --> 00:04:56,880 Speaker 1: takes place. The insects wings grow in and its body 88 00:04:56,960 --> 00:05:00,320 Speaker 1: changes shape. Once it emerges from the crysalist at changes 89 00:05:00,360 --> 00:05:03,120 Speaker 1: even more as the wings attain their full stretch in 90 00:05:03,160 --> 00:05:07,000 Speaker 1: the body elongates. Yeah. I have also seen some research 91 00:05:07,080 --> 00:05:10,000 Speaker 1: that said that the milkweed is not really where they're 92 00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:14,719 Speaker 1: gonna do their their pupa stage. I have read sources 93 00:05:14,720 --> 00:05:16,479 Speaker 1: that say both. So just f y I have that 94 00:05:17,000 --> 00:05:21,159 Speaker 1: rang oddly to you. Uh. The life span of monarchs varies, 95 00:05:21,200 --> 00:05:25,279 Speaker 1: and that is actually connected to their migration cycle. Most 96 00:05:25,320 --> 00:05:28,080 Speaker 1: generations of monarchs live for a few weeks. You'll sometimes 97 00:05:28,120 --> 00:05:31,080 Speaker 1: listed as a month. Uh, You'll sometimes see it as 98 00:05:31,120 --> 00:05:34,440 Speaker 1: six weeks. But the generation that hatches late in the 99 00:05:34,480 --> 00:05:38,120 Speaker 1: summer is destined for the fall migration south for winter, 100 00:05:38,640 --> 00:05:41,279 Speaker 1: and there's a cool mechanism in place to enable them 101 00:05:41,320 --> 00:05:44,360 Speaker 1: to live long enough to make that trip, which is 102 00:05:44,400 --> 00:05:48,320 Speaker 1: that they have a delay in their sexual maturation. While 103 00:05:48,400 --> 00:05:51,640 Speaker 1: normally a monarch butterflies life would be all about finding 104 00:05:51,640 --> 00:05:54,360 Speaker 1: a mate once it matures and then laying eggs, completing 105 00:05:54,400 --> 00:05:58,080 Speaker 1: its life mission, the pre autumn group doesn't normally mate 106 00:05:58,120 --> 00:06:01,640 Speaker 1: until after they have over winter in the reproduction cycle 107 00:06:01,720 --> 00:06:04,360 Speaker 1: begins in March, so they can live as long as 108 00:06:04,400 --> 00:06:09,000 Speaker 1: eight months. Monarch butterflies are generally considered to be native 109 00:06:09,040 --> 00:06:12,239 Speaker 1: to North and South America, Although the population in South 110 00:06:12,279 --> 00:06:15,680 Speaker 1: America is now quite small, they can be found in 111 00:06:15,839 --> 00:06:20,440 Speaker 1: small numbers and several other places. Hawaii, Spain, and Australia 112 00:06:20,520 --> 00:06:24,359 Speaker 1: all have their own monarch populations, but North America is 113 00:06:24,480 --> 00:06:27,680 Speaker 1: really their primary location. Yeah. You will also see a 114 00:06:27,680 --> 00:06:31,640 Speaker 1: lot of different information about how they got to places 115 00:06:31,680 --> 00:06:35,400 Speaker 1: like Hawaii, Spain, and Australia, whether those were brought there 116 00:06:35,440 --> 00:06:39,400 Speaker 1: by people, or whether they migrated there themselves, or whether 117 00:06:40,000 --> 00:06:43,760 Speaker 1: they got there through some other means of naturally being 118 00:06:43,800 --> 00:06:46,880 Speaker 1: there for maybe much longer than we know. What we 119 00:06:46,920 --> 00:06:48,599 Speaker 1: do know is that they don't migrate in any of 120 00:06:48,600 --> 00:06:51,680 Speaker 1: those other places only in North America. So there are 121 00:06:51,720 --> 00:06:55,359 Speaker 1: two recognized populations of monarch butterflies in North America. The 122 00:06:55,440 --> 00:06:59,000 Speaker 1: western breeding group consists of the butterflies that are west 123 00:06:59,040 --> 00:07:02,480 Speaker 1: of the Rocky Mountain. The Eastern group lives and breeds 124 00:07:02,520 --> 00:07:05,760 Speaker 1: primarily in Canada and the Great Plains, as well as 125 00:07:05,800 --> 00:07:09,000 Speaker 1: areas farther to the east. And perhaps the most unique 126 00:07:09,040 --> 00:07:13,200 Speaker 1: characteristic of monarch butterflies is the fact that they do migrate. 127 00:07:13,880 --> 00:07:17,800 Speaker 1: The western monarchs typically over winter in southern California, in 128 00:07:17,840 --> 00:07:22,160 Speaker 1: the eastern group migrates to central Mexico for winter. It 129 00:07:22,200 --> 00:07:25,600 Speaker 1: takes generations to make the full cycle of their journey. 130 00:07:26,080 --> 00:07:30,000 Speaker 1: The migration southward typically happens in one generation, and then 131 00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:33,320 Speaker 1: the northward migration happens in two to four, depending on 132 00:07:33,360 --> 00:07:37,920 Speaker 1: how far north they travel. After each generation lays eggs, 133 00:07:37,960 --> 00:07:42,440 Speaker 1: they die, and the resulting offspring continue on with the track. This, 134 00:07:42,640 --> 00:07:46,240 Speaker 1: of course, follows a route that shifts with temperatures. What's 135 00:07:46,280 --> 00:07:49,440 Speaker 1: really odd and marvelous is that the generation that makes 136 00:07:49,480 --> 00:07:52,800 Speaker 1: it to the southernmost destination point always returns to the 137 00:07:52,840 --> 00:07:56,760 Speaker 1: same place, a place that that generation has never been 138 00:07:57,160 --> 00:08:01,120 Speaker 1: in which it's parents and grandparent generations had also never 139 00:08:01,200 --> 00:08:04,240 Speaker 1: been to either, yet they keep returning year after year. 140 00:08:04,880 --> 00:08:07,720 Speaker 1: Nobody knows exactly why, although there's a great deal of 141 00:08:07,720 --> 00:08:10,240 Speaker 1: study that's gone into attempting to figure it out, and 142 00:08:10,240 --> 00:08:12,440 Speaker 1: we will talk about some of that work later on. 143 00:08:13,720 --> 00:08:17,080 Speaker 1: Based on fossil record evidence, we know that butterflies have 144 00:08:17,120 --> 00:08:20,040 Speaker 1: been around for roughly a hundred and seventy five million years, 145 00:08:20,720 --> 00:08:24,480 Speaker 1: but we don't know exactly when humans became consciously aware 146 00:08:24,520 --> 00:08:28,600 Speaker 1: of monarch butterflies. The first people to see and recognize 147 00:08:28,640 --> 00:08:32,000 Speaker 1: them were, of course, indigenous populations of north, central and 148 00:08:32,040 --> 00:08:35,280 Speaker 1: South America, but there's not really a written record of that. 149 00:08:36,400 --> 00:08:39,040 Speaker 1: We do know that the oldest specimens that were known 150 00:08:39,080 --> 00:08:42,600 Speaker 1: to white Europeans were in the collection of James pett Over, 151 00:08:43,320 --> 00:08:45,640 Speaker 1: and that comes with some baggage that we should unpack. 152 00:08:46,160 --> 00:08:49,640 Speaker 1: James Pettiver was born in London in sixteen sixty three. 153 00:08:50,120 --> 00:08:52,480 Speaker 1: His father died before he was a teenager, and his 154 00:08:52,559 --> 00:08:56,560 Speaker 1: maternal grandfather, Richard Elboro, paid for his schooling. In June 155 00:08:56,559 --> 00:08:59,600 Speaker 1: of sixteen seventy seven, when he was fourteen, James became 156 00:08:59,760 --> 00:09:03,720 Speaker 1: a athecary apprentice under a man named Charles Feldum, who 157 00:09:03,760 --> 00:09:08,680 Speaker 1: worked for London's St Bartholomew's Hospital. While completing his apprenticeship 158 00:09:08,679 --> 00:09:12,599 Speaker 1: and before becoming an independent apothecary, Pettever joined the Society 159 00:09:12,600 --> 00:09:15,760 Speaker 1: of Apothecaries and it was through outings with this group 160 00:09:15,880 --> 00:09:19,040 Speaker 1: that he began his first herbarium collection that is now 161 00:09:19,040 --> 00:09:23,360 Speaker 1: in London's Natural History Museum. James finished his apprenticeship in 162 00:09:24,200 --> 00:09:27,240 Speaker 1: five and opened an apothecary business of his own at 163 00:09:27,280 --> 00:09:30,079 Speaker 1: the sign of the White Cross, Aldersgate Street, and that's 164 00:09:30,080 --> 00:09:32,600 Speaker 1: where he worked for the rest of his life. And 165 00:09:32,679 --> 00:09:35,560 Speaker 1: during that life he became incredibly well known. He was 166 00:09:35,640 --> 00:09:39,319 Speaker 1: active in the science community and developed and maintained relationships 167 00:09:39,320 --> 00:09:42,160 Speaker 1: with members of the Royal Society as he offered his 168 00:09:42,240 --> 00:09:46,640 Speaker 1: expertise on various matters, and his herbarium collection, which grew 169 00:09:46,679 --> 00:09:50,640 Speaker 1: to include thousands of samples, was really renowned. While pett 170 00:09:50,640 --> 00:09:53,760 Speaker 1: Over collected many samples himself, he gained a lot of 171 00:09:53,800 --> 00:09:57,640 Speaker 1: specimens thanks to his relationships with explorers and sailors who 172 00:09:57,640 --> 00:10:00,760 Speaker 1: he asked to pick up unique items as traveled around 173 00:10:00,800 --> 00:10:03,800 Speaker 1: the world. That's how he came into possession of a 174 00:10:03,880 --> 00:10:07,440 Speaker 1: monarch butterfly, which was preserved for him between two sheets 175 00:10:07,480 --> 00:10:11,120 Speaker 1: of mica paper. This is noted as having been collected 176 00:10:11,160 --> 00:10:16,160 Speaker 1: between six and seventeen o nine in Maryland. Now we're 177 00:10:16,200 --> 00:10:19,320 Speaker 1: mentioning all of this because it connects our knowledge of 178 00:10:19,400 --> 00:10:22,920 Speaker 1: monarchs in history, as well as other information about the 179 00:10:23,000 --> 00:10:26,880 Speaker 1: natural world, to the slave trade. In a paper by 180 00:10:26,960 --> 00:10:29,840 Speaker 1: Kathleen S. Murphy published in the William and Mary Quarterly 181 00:10:29,880 --> 00:10:34,440 Speaker 1: in October, the author tracked the people that provided pet 182 00:10:34,440 --> 00:10:37,920 Speaker 1: overt specimens from the Atlantic basin, and almost half of 183 00:10:37,960 --> 00:10:41,280 Speaker 1: them were on ships that traveled slave trade routes, including 184 00:10:41,520 --> 00:10:43,520 Speaker 1: the ones that went to Maryland, which is where that 185 00:10:43,559 --> 00:10:46,160 Speaker 1: butterfly was found. And we're talking about all of this 186 00:10:46,280 --> 00:10:49,920 Speaker 1: because this is a lustrative of how deeply intertwined so 187 00:10:49,960 --> 00:10:53,880 Speaker 1: many parts of European and North American history are with 188 00:10:54,040 --> 00:10:57,040 Speaker 1: the slave trade, even the parts that don't on their 189 00:10:57,080 --> 00:11:01,720 Speaker 1: surface have any obvious connection. In that paper, Murphy makes 190 00:11:01,720 --> 00:11:03,600 Speaker 1: the point that all of the people that pett Over 191 00:11:03,679 --> 00:11:06,800 Speaker 1: worked with were ships surgeons or captains, so they were 192 00:11:06,800 --> 00:11:10,600 Speaker 1: men of rank who were actively engaged in slavery. No 193 00:11:10,679 --> 00:11:14,600 Speaker 1: one in this transaction could really claim ignorance. So while 194 00:11:14,679 --> 00:11:18,079 Speaker 1: the collections and publications of pett Over helped advanced Europe's 195 00:11:18,080 --> 00:11:21,560 Speaker 1: knowledge of the natural world and of monarch butterflies. That 196 00:11:21,720 --> 00:11:25,040 Speaker 1: knowledge came at a price that's really not acknowledged. Most 197 00:11:25,080 --> 00:11:28,720 Speaker 1: of the time, we'll talk about mentions of monarch butterflies 198 00:11:28,760 --> 00:11:31,640 Speaker 1: that came after pett Over, after we pause for a 199 00:11:31,679 --> 00:11:44,959 Speaker 1: sponsor break. After pett Over specimen. The next significant example 200 00:11:45,040 --> 00:11:47,760 Speaker 1: we have of a monarch butterfly in the historical record 201 00:11:48,280 --> 00:11:52,080 Speaker 1: is the illustration work of Mark Catesby. Katesby was born 202 00:11:52,080 --> 00:11:56,560 Speaker 1: in sixty three in Essex, England, and unlike Petaver, Katesby 203 00:11:56,720 --> 00:11:59,800 Speaker 1: made the trip to North America to collect specimens himself 204 00:12:00,440 --> 00:12:03,840 Speaker 1: more than once. When his father died in seventeen twelve, 205 00:12:04,000 --> 00:12:06,760 Speaker 1: Katesby traveled to live with his sister and her husband 206 00:12:06,800 --> 00:12:11,240 Speaker 1: in Virginia, and there he began collecting seeds and specimens 207 00:12:11,240 --> 00:12:14,400 Speaker 1: for collectors back home in England, as well as drawing 208 00:12:14,440 --> 00:12:16,880 Speaker 1: many of them or painting them so the specimens would 209 00:12:16,880 --> 00:12:21,560 Speaker 1: have accompanying illustrations. He stayed in the colonies for seven years, 210 00:12:21,600 --> 00:12:24,600 Speaker 1: traveling through the Appalachian Mountains and around the southeast, and 211 00:12:24,600 --> 00:12:27,600 Speaker 1: he even went to Jamaica before returning to London in 212 00:12:27,679 --> 00:12:31,080 Speaker 1: seventeen nineteen. And when he got back to England, his 213 00:12:31,160 --> 00:12:34,760 Speaker 1: work was very well received by the scientific community. At 214 00:12:34,760 --> 00:12:37,400 Speaker 1: this point in time. Just for context, Sir Isaac Newton 215 00:12:37,760 --> 00:12:40,960 Speaker 1: was chair of the Royal Society, and under the auspices 216 00:12:41,000 --> 00:12:44,960 Speaker 1: of the Society, botanist William Sharard led a fundraising effort 217 00:12:45,320 --> 00:12:47,640 Speaker 1: to send Katesby back to the colony so he could 218 00:12:47,679 --> 00:12:50,960 Speaker 1: do more of this work. The Royal Society was able 219 00:12:50,960 --> 00:12:53,360 Speaker 1: to drum up enough sponsors that it could pay for 220 00:12:53,400 --> 00:12:56,800 Speaker 1: Mark Katesby's second transatlantic voyage to North America to do 221 00:12:56,840 --> 00:13:00,360 Speaker 1: a more comprehensive survey of the continents, flora and fauna. 222 00:13:01,000 --> 00:13:04,079 Speaker 1: He sailed in February of seventeen twenty two, and after 223 00:13:04,200 --> 00:13:06,400 Speaker 1: three months at sea, made it to the destination of 224 00:13:06,440 --> 00:13:10,640 Speaker 1: South Carolina. Over the course of four years, Katesby fulfilled 225 00:13:10,679 --> 00:13:13,520 Speaker 1: his mission to document as much of the North American 226 00:13:13,640 --> 00:13:17,719 Speaker 1: Southeast natural world as possible. We focused on the Atlantic 227 00:13:17,800 --> 00:13:21,600 Speaker 1: coastal low country of South Carolina and Florida, as well 228 00:13:21,640 --> 00:13:25,560 Speaker 1: as the Bahamas. After Katesby once again returned to England, 229 00:13:25,600 --> 00:13:29,839 Speaker 1: he started compiling his field notes, specimens and illustrations into 230 00:13:29,840 --> 00:13:33,520 Speaker 1: a two volume work titled Natural History of Carolina, Florida 231 00:13:33,600 --> 00:13:37,240 Speaker 1: and the Bahama Islands. This project took a lot of time. 232 00:13:37,480 --> 00:13:40,920 Speaker 1: The first volume published in seventeen twenty nine, the second 233 00:13:41,040 --> 00:13:44,200 Speaker 1: not until seventeen forty seven, so it's eighteen years later. 234 00:13:44,920 --> 00:13:47,199 Speaker 1: And it is in that second volume of the work, 235 00:13:47,240 --> 00:13:51,160 Speaker 1: which is dedicated to Augusta, Princess of Wales, that Katesby's 236 00:13:51,200 --> 00:13:55,240 Speaker 1: illustration of the monarch butterfly appears. It's quite beautiful. It 237 00:13:55,400 --> 00:13:57,520 Speaker 1: is played eighty eight in the book, and it features 238 00:13:57,520 --> 00:14:00,880 Speaker 1: the butterfly along with a dollar orchid and a amshell orchid, 239 00:14:01,200 --> 00:14:03,679 Speaker 1: both of which are growing from the trunk of a tree. 240 00:14:04,280 --> 00:14:07,600 Speaker 1: By this point, people were already calling the butterfly a monarch. 241 00:14:07,840 --> 00:14:10,080 Speaker 1: It's believed that the name was given to the insect 242 00:14:10,160 --> 00:14:13,720 Speaker 1: by early English colonists in North America as a nod 243 00:14:13,760 --> 00:14:16,680 Speaker 1: to William the third of England, also known as William 244 00:14:16,720 --> 00:14:19,800 Speaker 1: of Orange, having been born the Prince of Orange, but 245 00:14:19,880 --> 00:14:24,080 Speaker 1: it wasn't yet classified scientifically. That didn't happen until seventeen 246 00:14:24,200 --> 00:14:27,400 Speaker 1: fifty eight, when Carl Linnaeus included it in his tenth 247 00:14:27,520 --> 00:14:31,840 Speaker 1: edition of systema natural. Linnaeus, who was born in seventeen 248 00:14:31,840 --> 00:14:34,800 Speaker 1: oh seven in Small and Sweden, is of course famous 249 00:14:34,840 --> 00:14:39,240 Speaker 1: for his classification of binomial nomenclature and due to starting 250 00:14:39,240 --> 00:14:41,920 Speaker 1: out without the benefit of a wealthy family to support 251 00:14:42,000 --> 00:14:45,200 Speaker 1: his studies. Linnaeus who could easily be a future podcast 252 00:14:45,240 --> 00:14:47,600 Speaker 1: subject because I don't think he's shown up on the 253 00:14:47,640 --> 00:14:51,200 Speaker 1: show before. Surprisingly now we've mentioned him, but like not 254 00:14:51,320 --> 00:14:54,120 Speaker 1: in a bunch of focus. No, he had to take 255 00:14:54,200 --> 00:14:56,160 Speaker 1: kind of a slow root in his pursuit of a 256 00:14:56,200 --> 00:15:00,160 Speaker 1: career and becoming a published scientific writer. His deep hist 257 00:15:00,240 --> 00:15:02,320 Speaker 1: interest was botany. It was something he had loved since 258 00:15:02,320 --> 00:15:04,960 Speaker 1: he was young, but he became a medical doctor to 259 00:15:05,000 --> 00:15:08,200 Speaker 1: support himself, and it was only after that, after he 260 00:15:08,200 --> 00:15:10,400 Speaker 1: became a doctor, that he started to get the backing 261 00:15:10,480 --> 00:15:14,120 Speaker 1: to start publishing his system of Nature that started out 262 00:15:14,120 --> 00:15:16,560 Speaker 1: with a first volume that was a folio just eleven 263 00:15:16,600 --> 00:15:22,280 Speaker 1: pages long. Linnaeus was aided by information like Catesby's illustrations, 264 00:15:22,320 --> 00:15:25,160 Speaker 1: and he placed the monarch in his taxonomy, giving it 265 00:15:25,200 --> 00:15:30,800 Speaker 1: the genus Papilio and the species plexipus. Linnaeus initially put 266 00:15:31,000 --> 00:15:34,960 Speaker 1: all butterflies in the genus Papilio, but that changed over time. 267 00:15:35,560 --> 00:15:39,360 Speaker 1: Linnaeus had included subgenuses of which denounce was one, and 268 00:15:39,440 --> 00:15:45,000 Speaker 1: that system was then refined by other taxonomists after Lennius died. Today, 269 00:15:45,120 --> 00:15:50,680 Speaker 1: the Papilio genus mostly contains swallowtail butterflies, whereas the nounces 270 00:15:50,680 --> 00:15:54,440 Speaker 1: its own genus composed of what sometimes called the tiger 271 00:15:54,520 --> 00:15:58,840 Speaker 1: butterfly tribe or the tiger butterfly group. You'll also see 272 00:15:58,920 --> 00:16:03,280 Speaker 1: the North American monarch specifically referred to as the subspecies 273 00:16:03,320 --> 00:16:07,240 Speaker 1: denounced Plexipus plexipus. Yeah, that's just since there are some 274 00:16:07,600 --> 00:16:11,600 Speaker 1: that are basically biologically identical, but they appear in other places. 275 00:16:12,640 --> 00:16:15,320 Speaker 1: Linnaeus noted in his writing that he had chosen the 276 00:16:15,400 --> 00:16:19,120 Speaker 1: names using the sons of the Greek mythological figure Agypdis, 277 00:16:19,760 --> 00:16:23,240 Speaker 1: though in Greek legend, Denounced is the brother of Agypdis. 278 00:16:23,360 --> 00:16:27,040 Speaker 1: Plexipus was one of a Gypdiss fifty sons, though in 279 00:16:27,120 --> 00:16:30,600 Speaker 1: that legend, just to give you context, Denounce had fifty daughters. 280 00:16:30,640 --> 00:16:34,479 Speaker 1: In Agypdis force denounced to marry his daughters to Agypticiss 281 00:16:34,520 --> 00:16:38,320 Speaker 1: fifty sons, so convenient they had the same number, and 282 00:16:38,400 --> 00:16:41,200 Speaker 1: all of the daughters, at their father's instruction, killed their 283 00:16:41,200 --> 00:16:43,440 Speaker 1: new husbands on their wedding night. That's, of course, only 284 00:16:43,480 --> 00:16:46,360 Speaker 1: one part of the mythology of these people, but carl 285 00:16:46,520 --> 00:16:48,760 Speaker 1: Naeus may have been a bit confused on the exact 286 00:16:48,960 --> 00:16:51,600 Speaker 1: nature of the story, and in any case, the nomenclature 287 00:16:51,640 --> 00:16:54,840 Speaker 1: that he chose for butterflies doesn't seem to reflect any 288 00:16:54,880 --> 00:16:58,840 Speaker 1: observations about their behaviors or life cycle. Observing that life 289 00:16:58,840 --> 00:17:02,560 Speaker 1: cycle is something that has interested naturalists for centuries now. 290 00:17:03,000 --> 00:17:06,639 Speaker 1: In one the over wintering sites of the monarch along 291 00:17:06,680 --> 00:17:09,879 Speaker 1: the California coast were identified, but there was still the 292 00:17:09,920 --> 00:17:13,160 Speaker 1: eastern group. Nobody was quite sure where they were going 293 00:17:13,280 --> 00:17:17,440 Speaker 1: in the winter, at least nobody who didn't live where 294 00:17:17,440 --> 00:17:21,879 Speaker 1: they were going. For a long time, the Gulf coast 295 00:17:21,960 --> 00:17:25,760 Speaker 1: of Florida was believed to be one possibility, and naturalists 296 00:17:25,840 --> 00:17:28,720 Speaker 1: hunted for that spot where the butterflies might be riding 297 00:17:28,720 --> 00:17:32,359 Speaker 1: out the winter. Soon, it became apparent that although that 298 00:17:32,480 --> 00:17:35,000 Speaker 1: area is warmer than other parts of the US and 299 00:17:35,080 --> 00:17:38,600 Speaker 1: the winter, it still can experience frosts, and butterflies can't 300 00:17:38,640 --> 00:17:41,119 Speaker 1: survive that kind of temperature drop. So that was finally 301 00:17:41,200 --> 00:17:45,120 Speaker 1: ruled out, and this is where Fred and Nora Urkhardt 302 00:17:45,240 --> 00:17:49,399 Speaker 1: come into the story. Fred Erkhart had been fascinated by 303 00:17:49,440 --> 00:17:54,440 Speaker 1: monarch butterflies since his Toronto, Ontario childhood, and that fascination 304 00:17:54,480 --> 00:17:57,320 Speaker 1: had never abated. It actually led him to study biology 305 00:17:57,359 --> 00:18:00,640 Speaker 1: at the University of Toronto starting in the ninth thirties, 306 00:18:00,920 --> 00:18:03,120 Speaker 1: and then he went on to earn his master's degree 307 00:18:03,520 --> 00:18:06,920 Speaker 1: and his PhD in the same field. When he finished 308 00:18:06,960 --> 00:18:10,520 Speaker 1: his education, he became the insect collection curator for the 309 00:18:10,600 --> 00:18:15,560 Speaker 1: Royal Ontario Museum. During his education, he met Norah Roden, 310 00:18:15,640 --> 00:18:18,080 Speaker 1: who was also enrolled in the school, although she was 311 00:18:18,080 --> 00:18:22,680 Speaker 1: studying social work. During World War Two, Fred worked in 312 00:18:22,760 --> 00:18:25,960 Speaker 1: meteorological service and when that conflict ended, he took a 313 00:18:26,040 --> 00:18:28,760 Speaker 1: job at the University of Toronto and he and Nora 314 00:18:28,880 --> 00:18:34,280 Speaker 1: were married. In There's was a true partnership. Nora became 315 00:18:34,359 --> 00:18:38,720 Speaker 1: as passionate about butterflies as bread was, and one question 316 00:18:38,760 --> 00:18:41,639 Speaker 1: really was plaguing them, which was where did these insects 317 00:18:41,720 --> 00:18:45,439 Speaker 1: go in the winter? Together they sought out the answer. 318 00:18:46,119 --> 00:18:48,920 Speaker 1: It's kind of interesting because they're now pretty well known 319 00:18:49,359 --> 00:18:52,560 Speaker 1: for having done this. But uh. In one interview, friend 320 00:18:52,600 --> 00:18:54,720 Speaker 1: mentioned that people were like, why are you doing this? 321 00:18:54,840 --> 00:18:57,640 Speaker 1: There's no money in this, and he's like, it's making 322 00:18:57,680 --> 00:19:00,360 Speaker 1: me crazy not to know. I want to They want 323 00:19:00,359 --> 00:19:03,280 Speaker 1: to know. Uh. And one of the first things that 324 00:19:03,280 --> 00:19:06,160 Speaker 1: the carts did was to try to find a way 325 00:19:06,160 --> 00:19:10,560 Speaker 1: to tag butterflies. This was challenging, as you might expect. 326 00:19:11,240 --> 00:19:12,879 Speaker 1: They not only had to come up with something that 327 00:19:12,920 --> 00:19:15,439 Speaker 1: would stay in place, but it also couldn't hurt the 328 00:19:15,480 --> 00:19:20,080 Speaker 1: butterfly or impede the insectibility to fly. They tried various 329 00:19:20,119 --> 00:19:23,760 Speaker 1: paint options and labels which did not work, and then 330 00:19:23,880 --> 00:19:26,399 Speaker 1: they came up with a system that finally passed the test. 331 00:19:26,920 --> 00:19:30,560 Speaker 1: That test, incidentally involved gently tying the butterflies to the 332 00:19:30,600 --> 00:19:33,680 Speaker 1: handlebars of Fred's bike with a fine thread, and then 333 00:19:33,720 --> 00:19:35,840 Speaker 1: he would ride and make sure that they could fly 334 00:19:35,920 --> 00:19:40,200 Speaker 1: along with him. But that solution was price tag stickers 335 00:19:40,240 --> 00:19:42,880 Speaker 1: that were intended for glassware. Because they were light enough 336 00:19:42,920 --> 00:19:46,160 Speaker 1: that they didn't make a big difference. Fred and Nora 337 00:19:46,320 --> 00:19:49,399 Speaker 1: developed a careful system in which they scraped some of 338 00:19:49,440 --> 00:19:51,960 Speaker 1: the scales off of one of the insects wings, and 339 00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:54,720 Speaker 1: then they would fold the sticker around the edge of 340 00:19:54,720 --> 00:19:59,320 Speaker 1: the wing. The butterflies kept flying as normal, seemingly unbothered. 341 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:04,120 Speaker 1: Every tiny sticker had contact information for the cart's office, 342 00:20:04,160 --> 00:20:06,840 Speaker 1: so that anybody who found one of these butterflies, or 343 00:20:06,880 --> 00:20:09,520 Speaker 1: even just saw them, might be able to report into 344 00:20:09,520 --> 00:20:12,600 Speaker 1: the couple. But this also meant that there needed to 345 00:20:12,680 --> 00:20:17,240 Speaker 1: be away to let particularly amateur lepidopters know to even 346 00:20:17,240 --> 00:20:20,639 Speaker 1: be looking for butterflies with stickers on them. So the 347 00:20:20,720 --> 00:20:24,240 Speaker 1: next step was a print campaign. Nora had the idea 348 00:20:24,280 --> 00:20:27,880 Speaker 1: to place ads in newspapers and magazines around the United 349 00:20:27,880 --> 00:20:31,359 Speaker 1: States to explain the project and ask citizens science to 350 00:20:31,480 --> 00:20:34,560 Speaker 1: help out. You'll sometimes see this as like referenced as 351 00:20:34,600 --> 00:20:38,800 Speaker 1: the first big citizen science project. And they got volunteers 352 00:20:38,840 --> 00:20:41,520 Speaker 1: through the organization that they established, which was the Insect 353 00:20:41,560 --> 00:20:45,440 Speaker 1: Migration Association, to help them tag all of the thousands 354 00:20:45,480 --> 00:20:49,520 Speaker 1: of Toronto area butterflies. We'll talk about the response to 355 00:20:49,560 --> 00:20:52,119 Speaker 1: those ads after we pause, and here from some of 356 00:20:52,160 --> 00:20:55,080 Speaker 1: the sponsors that keep Stuffy miss in history class going. 357 00:21:04,920 --> 00:21:08,439 Speaker 1: It wasn't long after Nora's ad placements the data and 358 00:21:08,520 --> 00:21:13,440 Speaker 1: information started flowing in. Every time someone contacted the carts 359 00:21:13,480 --> 00:21:16,160 Speaker 1: to report a sighting of a butterfly, Fred and Nora 360 00:21:16,400 --> 00:21:19,560 Speaker 1: noted it on a big map. One theory at the 361 00:21:19,600 --> 00:21:22,639 Speaker 1: start of the project was that Eastern monarchs might be 362 00:21:22,760 --> 00:21:27,040 Speaker 1: joining the Western group along the California coast. The information 363 00:21:27,040 --> 00:21:29,720 Speaker 1: that Fred and Nora collected quickly made it appearent that 364 00:21:29,840 --> 00:21:32,640 Speaker 1: wasn't happening. For one thing, there simply were not enough 365 00:21:32,720 --> 00:21:36,520 Speaker 1: monarchs in California to make up for the migrating numbers 366 00:21:36,640 --> 00:21:40,919 Speaker 1: leaving Southern Canada. In the US, the next step was 367 00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:44,199 Speaker 1: to travel to the southern US themselves to see what 368 00:21:44,240 --> 00:21:47,080 Speaker 1: they might be able to find out. So they drove 369 00:21:47,200 --> 00:21:50,840 Speaker 1: twenty thousand miles as they traveled all around Texas, just 370 00:21:51,080 --> 00:21:55,359 Speaker 1: chasing leads and coming up short. Their information. Stopped at 371 00:21:55,359 --> 00:21:58,600 Speaker 1: the Mexican border because their ad placements had only been 372 00:21:58,680 --> 00:22:01,680 Speaker 1: in US papers. So they did the next logical thing, 373 00:22:01,720 --> 00:22:04,679 Speaker 1: which was to put announcements in papers south of the border, 374 00:22:05,440 --> 00:22:08,720 Speaker 1: and one of their primary responses came from an American 375 00:22:08,760 --> 00:22:11,840 Speaker 1: man named Kenneth Brugger, who wrote, quote, I read with 376 00:22:11,920 --> 00:22:14,840 Speaker 1: interest your article on the monarch. It occurred to me 377 00:22:14,880 --> 00:22:17,879 Speaker 1: that I might be of some help. Kenneth was an 378 00:22:17,880 --> 00:22:21,639 Speaker 1: engineer from Wisconsin working at a textile firm in Mexico City, 379 00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:25,240 Speaker 1: and he had seen groups of monarchs in the area 380 00:22:25,520 --> 00:22:28,840 Speaker 1: before long. Brogger and a woman who he identified as 381 00:22:28,920 --> 00:22:32,399 Speaker 1: Cathy Iguado, and we'll talk about him identifying her as 382 00:22:32,480 --> 00:22:36,359 Speaker 1: that in a bit started tracking the insects in their Winnebago. 383 00:22:36,880 --> 00:22:40,520 Speaker 1: Brogger and Aguado married in May nineteen seventy four, after 384 00:22:40,560 --> 00:22:43,040 Speaker 1: they had started helping the ark Harts, and the two 385 00:22:43,080 --> 00:22:47,119 Speaker 1: couples met when Kenneth and Cathy, whose real name is Catalina. 386 00:22:47,640 --> 00:22:49,840 Speaker 1: She apparently did not actually like the name Kathy, which 387 00:22:49,840 --> 00:22:52,919 Speaker 1: is what her husband called her when they visited Toronto. 388 00:22:53,880 --> 00:22:56,719 Speaker 1: After the Broggers returned to Mexico. There was a system. 389 00:22:57,040 --> 00:22:59,680 Speaker 1: The Harts would send them tips that they got from 390 00:22:59,680 --> 00:23:02,879 Speaker 1: people who had spotted the tagged butterflies, and Kinne than 391 00:23:02,960 --> 00:23:06,280 Speaker 1: Catalina would follow up on those sidings and then report back. 392 00:23:07,000 --> 00:23:09,080 Speaker 1: They were essentially being the boots on the ground for 393 00:23:09,119 --> 00:23:13,400 Speaker 1: the Canadian couple. Often Ken would drive and Catalina would 394 00:23:13,440 --> 00:23:17,560 Speaker 1: scan the landscape with binoculars looking for butterflies. At this point, 395 00:23:17,680 --> 00:23:20,119 Speaker 1: Ken had retired and they were free to pretty much 396 00:23:20,160 --> 00:23:22,480 Speaker 1: spend their time as they wished. Yeah, they had gone 397 00:23:22,520 --> 00:23:24,879 Speaker 1: from doing this only on the weekends to this being 398 00:23:25,160 --> 00:23:28,720 Speaker 1: basically their full time lives. Um, they did a lot 399 00:23:28,800 --> 00:23:31,080 Speaker 1: of it. We're telling a very fast version, but it 400 00:23:31,119 --> 00:23:36,160 Speaker 1: took them a long time. Throughout Christmas nineteen seventy four 401 00:23:36,200 --> 00:23:38,600 Speaker 1: and into New Year's Day of nineteen seventy five, the 402 00:23:38,640 --> 00:23:42,840 Speaker 1: Bruggers had been following monarchs near the mountains in mitchokn 403 00:23:42,960 --> 00:23:45,639 Speaker 1: that's about hundred and fifty miles from where Catalina had 404 00:23:45,640 --> 00:23:49,840 Speaker 1: grown up. On January second, nineteen seventy five, they hiked 405 00:23:49,920 --> 00:23:52,000 Speaker 1: up the mountain known as Sarah Polone, which is an 406 00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:55,920 Speaker 1: old volcano, and in that afternoon, after a long day 407 00:23:55,920 --> 00:24:00,159 Speaker 1: of hiking in fairly miserable conditions, Catalina looked up and 408 00:24:00,240 --> 00:24:03,000 Speaker 1: she yelled back to Ken that she needed a camera 409 00:24:03,160 --> 00:24:06,800 Speaker 1: because they had found it a surreal sanctuary, filled with 410 00:24:06,880 --> 00:24:12,040 Speaker 1: monarchs everywhere they looked. Catalina later described this moment this 411 00:24:12,080 --> 00:24:15,000 Speaker 1: way in an interview quote, neither of us could talk. 412 00:24:15,520 --> 00:24:18,199 Speaker 1: I will never get over seeing so many butterflies at 413 00:24:18,280 --> 00:24:21,080 Speaker 1: one time. I don't have the words to describe what 414 00:24:21,160 --> 00:24:24,119 Speaker 1: I saw. My mind just went blank. Then Ken and 415 00:24:24,160 --> 00:24:28,959 Speaker 1: I walked together. We kept whispering, wow, Wow, Wow. We 416 00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:31,920 Speaker 1: didn't want to scare the monarchs and their own sanctuary. 417 00:24:32,280 --> 00:24:35,560 Speaker 1: The ground was a foot and a half deep with them. 418 00:24:35,640 --> 00:24:38,439 Speaker 1: They covered the tree trunks like pages of a book. 419 00:24:38,920 --> 00:24:42,000 Speaker 1: We stepped carefully so as not to kill any With 420 00:24:42,119 --> 00:24:45,000 Speaker 1: each step, I'd shake my foot back and forth until 421 00:24:45,000 --> 00:24:47,600 Speaker 1: I could feel the bare ground. Then we stood in 422 00:24:47,640 --> 00:24:50,919 Speaker 1: the middle of a clearing, and as Catalina became still, 423 00:24:51,440 --> 00:24:55,200 Speaker 1: the monarchs just started landing right on her. She recounted quote, 424 00:24:55,240 --> 00:24:57,880 Speaker 1: I felt their scratchy feet on my face and thought 425 00:24:57,960 --> 00:24:59,920 Speaker 1: to myself, Oh, my god, what are we going to 426 00:25:00,119 --> 00:25:03,240 Speaker 1: do now? I wish everyone in the world had my 427 00:25:03,320 --> 00:25:06,040 Speaker 1: eyes right now to see what I'm seeing and feel 428 00:25:06,040 --> 00:25:10,000 Speaker 1: what I'm feeling, because this is so amazing. My god, 429 00:25:10,080 --> 00:25:13,680 Speaker 1: you butterflies flew thousands of miles and here you are. 430 00:25:14,400 --> 00:25:17,280 Speaker 1: After hurrying back down the trail in the dying light, 431 00:25:17,520 --> 00:25:20,560 Speaker 1: Ken called the ark Hearts, and the days that followed, 432 00:25:20,680 --> 00:25:25,240 Speaker 1: Catalina and Ken found several more colonies. They told nobody 433 00:25:25,280 --> 00:25:28,560 Speaker 1: besides Bread and Nora, for fear that this mountain forest 434 00:25:28,600 --> 00:25:30,960 Speaker 1: would then be flushed with humans who would not be 435 00:25:31,040 --> 00:25:34,680 Speaker 1: as careful as they were. And the following year, when 436 00:25:34,720 --> 00:25:37,240 Speaker 1: it was time for the Monarchs to migrate to Mexico, 437 00:25:37,440 --> 00:25:40,800 Speaker 1: the ark Hearts joined Ken and Catalina and Sarah Polone. 438 00:25:41,480 --> 00:25:45,719 Speaker 1: They were also accompanied by a National Geographic photographer. In 439 00:25:45,760 --> 00:25:49,199 Speaker 1: August of ninety six, the Monarch Migration News was the 440 00:25:49,240 --> 00:25:52,879 Speaker 1: cover story for National Geographic. It ran with the title 441 00:25:53,080 --> 00:25:57,919 Speaker 1: Discovered the Monarch's Mexican Haven. The cover image is Catalina 442 00:25:58,040 --> 00:26:02,679 Speaker 1: covered in monarchs something. It mentions Ken Brugger's dog Coola, 443 00:26:02,800 --> 00:26:05,600 Speaker 1: being by his side as he sought out these butterflies. 444 00:26:05,720 --> 00:26:09,400 Speaker 1: It casually references his wife, Kathy, who's referred to as 445 00:26:09,520 --> 00:26:13,560 Speaker 1: quote a bright and delightful Mexican. It never says that 446 00:26:13,600 --> 00:26:17,119 Speaker 1: she is the person in the cover image. It also 447 00:26:17,200 --> 00:26:20,560 Speaker 1: doesn't acknowledge that the local population had known that the 448 00:26:20,680 --> 00:26:24,919 Speaker 1: monarchs were over wintering there for generations, and most of 449 00:26:24,920 --> 00:26:27,280 Speaker 1: those people were like, yes, my grandfather talked about these 450 00:26:27,280 --> 00:26:31,320 Speaker 1: all the time. Um and literally, that thing that Tracy 451 00:26:31,440 --> 00:26:34,439 Speaker 1: just read about Kathy, as she was called in the article, 452 00:26:34,760 --> 00:26:38,040 Speaker 1: is all that she has mentioned. The rite up is 453 00:26:38,080 --> 00:26:42,040 Speaker 1: full of quotes from Fred Urkhardt, who did undeniably catalyze 454 00:26:42,080 --> 00:26:45,720 Speaker 1: the entire project. He told the magazine quote, those who 455 00:26:45,760 --> 00:26:47,600 Speaker 1: have had a dream and have lived to see that 456 00:26:47,680 --> 00:26:50,880 Speaker 1: dream come true will have some conception of my feelings 457 00:26:50,920 --> 00:26:54,240 Speaker 1: when I first entered the Mexican forest, and there before 458 00:26:54,280 --> 00:26:56,840 Speaker 1: my eyes was the realization of a dream that had 459 00:26:56,880 --> 00:27:01,600 Speaker 1: haunted me since I was sixteen. After that article published, 460 00:27:01,640 --> 00:27:05,640 Speaker 1: Fred and Nora's life was pretty much all about butterfly study. 461 00:27:05,840 --> 00:27:09,320 Speaker 1: Fred wrote numerous books and articles about their tracking project 462 00:27:09,440 --> 00:27:13,359 Speaker 1: in the ongoing study and discoveries regarding monarchs, and Nora 463 00:27:13,560 --> 00:27:18,200 Speaker 1: kept their organization going and managed their business affairs. Catalina 464 00:27:18,280 --> 00:27:21,640 Speaker 1: and Ken divorced in the early nineties, and Catalina had 465 00:27:21,680 --> 00:27:23,920 Speaker 1: stayed out of the public eye as the ark Hearts 466 00:27:23,960 --> 00:27:26,520 Speaker 1: and ken Brugger became known as the team that cracked 467 00:27:26,560 --> 00:27:31,359 Speaker 1: the butterfly migration puzzle. But today she's the only surviving 468 00:27:31,400 --> 00:27:34,320 Speaker 1: member of the group, and over the years she's come 469 00:27:34,359 --> 00:27:37,040 Speaker 1: to be more widely recognized for the part that she 470 00:27:37,160 --> 00:27:40,560 Speaker 1: played in this discovery. She consulted on the docu drama 471 00:27:40,600 --> 00:27:43,320 Speaker 1: about the monarchs called Flight of the Butterflies that came 472 00:27:43,320 --> 00:27:47,439 Speaker 1: out in She advocates for the conservation of monarch habitats 473 00:27:47,480 --> 00:27:50,400 Speaker 1: and continues to be on that keep a low profile. 474 00:27:51,200 --> 00:27:54,520 Speaker 1: It's clear today that because she was the only Spanish 475 00:27:54,600 --> 00:27:58,520 Speaker 1: fluent Mexican born member of the team, it was Catalina 476 00:27:58,560 --> 00:28:01,960 Speaker 1: who really enabled the mission and to actually meet its goals, 477 00:28:02,200 --> 00:28:05,280 Speaker 1: particularly the segments of her journey with Ken where they 478 00:28:05,320 --> 00:28:09,280 Speaker 1: had to negotiate both terrain and the local populations that 479 00:28:09,320 --> 00:28:12,760 Speaker 1: he had really no experience with. In an interview that 480 00:28:12,840 --> 00:28:16,639 Speaker 1: she gave in twenty Catalina told a journalist quote, I 481 00:28:16,720 --> 00:28:18,840 Speaker 1: searched for the monarchs because of the love I have 482 00:28:19,000 --> 00:28:22,000 Speaker 1: for all insects and all of nature, for the awe 483 00:28:22,040 --> 00:28:24,800 Speaker 1: that they provoked in me in all the beautiful and 484 00:28:24,880 --> 00:28:28,000 Speaker 1: ugly ways. I care about the truth and the marvelous 485 00:28:28,080 --> 00:28:31,480 Speaker 1: way that nature works in all of us. And then 486 00:28:31,520 --> 00:28:34,679 Speaker 1: here's the big reason that Holly wanted to do this episode. 487 00:28:35,280 --> 00:28:37,280 Speaker 1: Holly is the one who researched it. In case that 488 00:28:37,400 --> 00:28:40,400 Speaker 1: was not obvious, Uh, some of our listeners have probably 489 00:28:40,440 --> 00:28:44,640 Speaker 1: guessed it. The monarch butterfly was classified as endangered on 490 00:28:44,760 --> 00:28:48,680 Speaker 1: July two, that's about a week before we're recording this 491 00:28:48,720 --> 00:28:51,560 Speaker 1: episode and a few weeks before it will come out. 492 00:28:52,240 --> 00:28:55,600 Speaker 1: According to information reviewed by the International Union for the 493 00:28:55,640 --> 00:28:58,240 Speaker 1: Conservation of Nature or i U see in, in the 494 00:28:58,360 --> 00:29:02,360 Speaker 1: last decade, monarch numbers have declined between twenty three and 495 00:29:02,440 --> 00:29:06,240 Speaker 1: seventy two. It's a really wide swing, and that's due 496 00:29:06,280 --> 00:29:09,560 Speaker 1: to variations in measurement, something that's pretty natural when you're 497 00:29:09,560 --> 00:29:13,520 Speaker 1: trying to track an insect by site. The western monarch 498 00:29:13,600 --> 00:29:17,160 Speaker 1: population has declined by n nine per cent since the 499 00:29:17,240 --> 00:29:20,880 Speaker 1: nineteen eighties, and their eastern counterparts are doing slightly better. 500 00:29:20,960 --> 00:29:24,480 Speaker 1: But the numbers are still really grave. Their decline since 501 00:29:24,520 --> 00:29:28,200 Speaker 1: the nineteen eighties is eighty percent, so over just four 502 00:29:28,360 --> 00:29:34,160 Speaker 1: decades they've gone from thriving to endangered. There are multiple 503 00:29:34,240 --> 00:29:37,280 Speaker 1: contributors to these dramatic drops. One of the biggest is 504 00:29:37,320 --> 00:29:41,600 Speaker 1: habitat loss. Logging and construction have wiped out forests that 505 00:29:41,720 --> 00:29:46,760 Speaker 1: monarchs once visited along your migratory paths. Another is pesticides. 506 00:29:47,120 --> 00:29:49,960 Speaker 1: Chemical treatments have not only killed butterflies, but also the 507 00:29:50,000 --> 00:29:53,560 Speaker 1: milkweed plants that they need to survive. Climate change is 508 00:29:53,600 --> 00:29:57,719 Speaker 1: another threat. During extreme weather events like storms, floods, and drought, 509 00:29:58,120 --> 00:30:02,360 Speaker 1: butterflies die in large numbers. The United States has not 510 00:30:02,480 --> 00:30:05,560 Speaker 1: yet listed the monarch as an endangered species through the 511 00:30:05,680 --> 00:30:10,200 Speaker 1: Endangered Species Act, but many conservation and environmentalist groups across 512 00:30:10,240 --> 00:30:13,880 Speaker 1: the country are lobbying for that listing. That listing would 513 00:30:13,880 --> 00:30:17,680 Speaker 1: be an important step toward guiding recovery efforts because once 514 00:30:17,680 --> 00:30:21,200 Speaker 1: the species is on the list, critical habitat areas become 515 00:30:21,320 --> 00:30:25,840 Speaker 1: legally protected. That catalyzes the development of recovery plans as 516 00:30:25,880 --> 00:30:29,480 Speaker 1: well as carrying them out. And there is some indication 517 00:30:29,600 --> 00:30:32,920 Speaker 1: that numbers might be bolstering a little showing that in 518 00:30:33,040 --> 00:30:36,400 Speaker 1: some areas the numbers in the population have gone up 519 00:30:36,440 --> 00:30:39,200 Speaker 1: ever so slightly. This is just in the last year, 520 00:30:39,280 --> 00:30:42,760 Speaker 1: but it isn't necessarily a sign that things will continue 521 00:30:42,800 --> 00:30:44,720 Speaker 1: to get better on their own, but it does offer 522 00:30:44,800 --> 00:30:48,400 Speaker 1: some hope that with conservation efforts in place, the population 523 00:30:48,920 --> 00:30:53,440 Speaker 1: may continue to rebound. Today we know more than ever 524 00:30:53,520 --> 00:30:56,280 Speaker 1: about monarchs, but we also still have a lot of questions. 525 00:30:56,680 --> 00:30:59,560 Speaker 1: There have been projects that have involved genetic sequencing of 526 00:30:59,600 --> 00:31:02,240 Speaker 1: the speci used to try to more fully understand their 527 00:31:02,240 --> 00:31:06,520 Speaker 1: inner compass and their longevity shifts, as well as color differences. 528 00:31:06,760 --> 00:31:09,800 Speaker 1: There have also been concerned that some studies of monarch 529 00:31:10,040 --> 00:31:16,640 Speaker 1: DNA have accidentally used misidentified butterflies that are not monarchs. Yeah, 530 00:31:16,680 --> 00:31:18,920 Speaker 1: there are a lot of butterfly species that kind of 531 00:31:18,960 --> 00:31:22,360 Speaker 1: mimic the look of monarchs because it's beneficial to them 532 00:31:22,360 --> 00:31:25,440 Speaker 1: to look like a toxic animal um and that there 533 00:31:25,480 --> 00:31:29,240 Speaker 1: may have been some confusion in there. Mexico has taken 534 00:31:29,280 --> 00:31:33,720 Speaker 1: steps to protect the monarchs over wintering locations in the 535 00:31:33,720 --> 00:31:37,880 Speaker 1: country established the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, and at the 536 00:31:37,880 --> 00:31:41,120 Speaker 1: time of its founding, that reserve consisted of four forests 537 00:31:41,160 --> 00:31:45,400 Speaker 1: totaling about sixty two square miles of land, but today 538 00:31:45,480 --> 00:31:48,640 Speaker 1: that area has expanded. It's now two hundred seventeen square 539 00:31:48,640 --> 00:31:52,400 Speaker 1: miles and most of this land is communally owned by 540 00:31:52,440 --> 00:31:55,520 Speaker 1: the communities that live there, and efforts have been made 541 00:31:55,520 --> 00:31:58,480 Speaker 1: to help transition the residents of those communities from their 542 00:31:58,520 --> 00:32:01,719 Speaker 1: former occupations in fields like logging, which would have been 543 00:32:01,720 --> 00:32:05,959 Speaker 1: detrimental to butterflies, two more conservation minded sources of income, 544 00:32:06,040 --> 00:32:09,320 Speaker 1: such as bee keeping. There is also a growing eco 545 00:32:09,400 --> 00:32:12,840 Speaker 1: tourism economy there. If you live in the US and 546 00:32:12,920 --> 00:32:14,680 Speaker 1: you want to learn more about how you can help 547 00:32:14,720 --> 00:32:18,680 Speaker 1: monarch populations, you can visit Monarch joint Venture dot org. 548 00:32:19,120 --> 00:32:22,640 Speaker 1: It's a partnership of multiple agencies and conservation groups from 549 00:32:22,680 --> 00:32:29,080 Speaker 1: across the country. Butterflies, yeah, about which I got very 550 00:32:29,120 --> 00:32:32,840 Speaker 1: choked up at the end. Um. I have fun listener 551 00:32:32,920 --> 00:32:36,040 Speaker 1: mail though about something that several people have reached out 552 00:32:36,040 --> 00:32:40,480 Speaker 1: to me about on Twitter from one of our previous episodes, 553 00:32:40,520 --> 00:32:46,240 Speaker 1: and that is Salmon Vertebrae. Oh yeah. This particular email 554 00:32:46,440 --> 00:32:49,360 Speaker 1: is from our listener Elizabeth, who writes, Hye, Holly and Tracy, 555 00:32:49,400 --> 00:32:51,719 Speaker 1: I love your podcast and my ears perked up at 556 00:32:51,760 --> 00:32:54,840 Speaker 1: the mention of Salmon Vertebrae. As beads. This is a 557 00:32:54,880 --> 00:32:58,240 Speaker 1: great idea with regard to your concern about smell. I 558 00:32:58,280 --> 00:33:01,920 Speaker 1: have some advice. I am an our geologist. I won't 559 00:33:01,960 --> 00:33:04,600 Speaker 1: say where Elizabeth works, just to be safe and preserve 560 00:33:04,640 --> 00:33:09,280 Speaker 1: her privacy, and my specialty is zoo archaeology. On occasion, 561 00:33:09,440 --> 00:33:11,920 Speaker 1: I have to turn an animal carcass into a skeleton 562 00:33:12,280 --> 00:33:16,480 Speaker 1: for comparative purposes, so I have some relevant experience. Once 563 00:33:16,520 --> 00:33:19,120 Speaker 1: you've cleaned the vertebrae in a very low simmer to 564 00:33:19,280 --> 00:33:22,840 Speaker 1: soften and remove any soft bits, soak the vertebrae in 565 00:33:22,880 --> 00:33:25,880 Speaker 1: a bath of hydrogen peroxide over the counter stuff is 566 00:33:25,920 --> 00:33:28,960 Speaker 1: fine for a few minutes, and then let them dry. 567 00:33:29,160 --> 00:33:32,360 Speaker 1: Repeat the peroxide bath until they don't smell. Do not 568 00:33:32,840 --> 00:33:36,200 Speaker 1: use bleach that will make the vertebrae brittle over time 569 00:33:36,280 --> 00:33:39,760 Speaker 1: and chalky. For your amusement, I enclose a picture of 570 00:33:39,760 --> 00:33:42,400 Speaker 1: my cat, Eggs, who is helping me take notes from 571 00:33:42,440 --> 00:33:45,160 Speaker 1: my weekly D and D game. Best regards, Elizabeth. Okay, 572 00:33:45,200 --> 00:33:49,400 Speaker 1: Eggs is an orange tabby and adorable and I want 573 00:33:49,440 --> 00:33:53,680 Speaker 1: to kiss Eggs. Um. Thank you so much, Elizabeth. This 574 00:33:53,760 --> 00:33:56,880 Speaker 1: is great information. So for any of you that reached 575 00:33:56,880 --> 00:33:58,800 Speaker 1: out to me on Twitter about ways that you might 576 00:33:58,920 --> 00:34:01,760 Speaker 1: also do a salmon bead project. We'll see if I 577 00:34:01,760 --> 00:34:04,480 Speaker 1: get around to it, but I still think it's pretty great. Uh, 578 00:34:04,720 --> 00:34:06,760 Speaker 1: then that's how to do it. There have also been 579 00:34:06,760 --> 00:34:09,280 Speaker 1: people that have sent me that amazing UM. I didn't 580 00:34:09,280 --> 00:34:11,480 Speaker 1: take notes on it for this, but there's an artist 581 00:34:11,560 --> 00:34:15,280 Speaker 1: who has done some really beautiful salmon bead garment projects 582 00:34:15,280 --> 00:34:19,239 Speaker 1: that are just spectacularly beautiful. So UH, seek those out 583 00:34:19,239 --> 00:34:22,560 Speaker 1: because they're worth looking at. Thank you again, Elizabeth. If 584 00:34:22,600 --> 00:34:24,120 Speaker 1: you would like to write to us, you can do 585 00:34:24,160 --> 00:34:27,080 Speaker 1: so at History podcast at my heart radio dot com. 586 00:34:27,120 --> 00:34:29,400 Speaker 1: You can also find us on social media as Missed 587 00:34:29,400 --> 00:34:32,359 Speaker 1: in History, and if you haven't subscribed to the podcast yet, 588 00:34:32,560 --> 00:34:34,160 Speaker 1: you can do that on the I heart Radio app 589 00:34:34,280 --> 00:34:36,440 Speaker 1: or wherever it is you listen to your favorite shows. 590 00:34:41,560 --> 00:34:43,719 Speaker 1: Stuff you Missed in History Class is a production of 591 00:34:43,760 --> 00:34:46,960 Speaker 1: I heart Radio. For more podcasts from I heart Radio, 592 00:34:47,160 --> 00:34:50,160 Speaker 1: visit the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 593 00:34:50,239 --> 00:34:51,720 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.