In the past years, the use of pesticides has limited the growth of milkweed, cutting off an essential food source and breeding ground for monarchs. Kathy Cole, who raises butterflies and milkweed, said they’re pollinators, and if the pollinators are not around then the human beings won’t have very much food to eat.

Cole has been trying to save the unruly weed to protect the monarch, most well-known butterfly of America.

Milkweed is very important for monarchs as the caterpillars feed off it. The weed is the only place female monarch butterflies lay their eggs. Cole along with her husband, Ron, has been teaching people about butterflies.

They organized a monarch butterfly release and program with the Anderson AARP chapter following its monthly meeting on Monday. At the event, members took the black-and-orange insects from a wire hamper and set them free in the sky.

The Coles explained the problems faced by monarch butterflies and regarding their migration patterns during the program. During summer, Monarchs spend time in Canada and certain parts of the United States, including the Midwest, and in winters they migrate to certain area of Mexico.

In the case of the monarchs, the migratory habit is unique. Nobody has any clue about why some monarchs from certain areas travel south, whereas some travel as far as 3,000 miles.

Cole said, “They weigh as much as a paperclip, and making that kind of journey is just remarkable”. Cole mentioned that pesticides, herbicides and development have been threatening the species’ survival.