Habitat Destruction

[summerluver]

I'm curious as to whether their has been any connection made to the spraying we have going on here in the New York metropolitan area for West Nile Virus and damage to our butterflies. I passed a country truck yesterday that was labelled "County Tick Control" which must have also contained pesticides. Even though I'm in northern New Jersey, I've noticed diminishing numbers of butterflies and hummingbirds in general over the past several years. We've finally got a lot of activity on my butterfly bushes with Tiger Swallowtails over the past week, which are usually very busy and prolific by mid-July. Only seen two Black Swallowtails fly through the yard this entire summer!

[Mona Miller]

Plenty of connect. Just put "pesticide" in the upper right search.

[Mona Miller]

http://www.acris.nynhp.org/report.php?id=7877
Conservation Issues
Threats
The threats include habitat loss, degradation, and fragmentation, fire suppression,
inappropriate management of lupine (Lupinus perennis), mosquito spraying and the use of
other insecticides, and browsing of lupine by herbivores, primarily deer. There is also a
concern that a reduction in winter snow pack and other changes, due to climate change,
threaten this species. Such threats could be of particular concern in New York, which has a
warmer climate and is farther south than most of the current range for this butterfly.

http://books.google.com/books?id=vxJexO ... q=&f=false
In Florida, there was a definite link between spraying for mosquitos and the loss of the Schaus Swallowtail.

http://skipper.physics.sunysb.edu/mosqu ... quito2.doc
West Nile Virus and Mosquito Control Practices
Survey of Mosquito Control Practices and Less-Toxic Alternatives

http://www.lbamspray.com/Reports/Oberha ... in2006.pdf
Growth and Survival of Monarch Butterflies (Lepidoptera: Danaidae) After Exposure to Permethrin Barrier Treatments
K. S. OBERHAUSER,1 S. J. BRINDA,2 S. WEAVER,3 R. D. MOON,4 S. A. MANWEILER,5
AND N. READ5