Monarchs and milkweed : a migrating butterfly, a poisonous plant, and their remarkable story of coevolution / Anurag Agrawal.
Material type: TextPublisher: Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press, [2017]Description: ix, 283 pages : illustrations (chiefly color), color maps ; 24 cmISBN:- 9780691166353
- 0691166358
- QL561.D3 A47 2017
Item type | Current library | Call number | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lending Books | Elisabeth C. Miller Library Tall Shelves | QL561.D3 A47 2017 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) | Available | 39352800168775 |
Browsing Elisabeth C. Miller Library shelves, Shelving location: Tall Shelves Close shelf browser (Hides shelf browser)
QL544.2 .C37 1992 Butterflies and moths / | QL545 .M27 2019 Emperors, admirals and chimney sweepers : the weird and wonderful names of butterflies and moths / | QL548 .B76 2003 Kaufman field guide to butterflies of North America / | QL561.D3 A47 2017 Monarchs and milkweed : a migrating butterfly, a poisonous plant, and their remarkable story of coevolution / | QL561.D3 B28 2017 The monarch : saving our most-loved butterfly / | QL563 .H65 2017 Bees : an identification and native plant forage guide / | QL564 .H65 2021 Wasps : their biology, diversity, and role as beneficial insects and pollinators of native plants / |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 249-270) and index.
Welcome to the monarchy -- The arms race -- The chemistry of medicine and poison -- Waiting, mating, and migrating -- Hatching and defending -- Saving up to raise a family -- The milkweed village -- The autumn migration -- Long live the monarchy!
Monarch butterflies are one of nature's most recognizable creatures, known for their bright colors and epic annual migration from the United States and Canada to Mexico. Yet there is much more to the monarch than its distinctive presence and mythic journeying. In Monarchs and Milkweed, Anurag Agrawal presents a vivid investigation into how the monarch butterfly has evolved closely alongside the milkweed--a toxic plant named for the sticky white substance emitted when its leaves are damaged--and how this inextricable and intimate relationship has been like an arms race over the millennia, a battle of exploitation and defense between two fascinating species. The monarch life cycle begins each spring when it deposits eggs on milkweed leaves. But this dependency of monarchs on milkweeds as food is not reciprocated, and milkweeds do all they can to poison or thwart the young monarchs. Agrawal delves into major scientific discoveries, including his own pioneering research, and traces how plant poisons have not only shaped monarch-milkweed interactions but have also been culturally important for centuries. Agrawal presents current ideas regarding the recent decline in monarch populations, including habitat destruction, increased winter storms, and lack of milkweed--the last one a theory that the author rejects. He evaluates the current sustainability of monarchs and reveals a novel explanation for their plummeting numbers. Lavishly illustrated with more than eighty color photos and images, Monarchs and Milkweed takes readers on an unforgettable exploration of one of nature's most important and sophisticated evolutionary relationships.