The Flap Over the Mail Order Butterfly Industry

[Mona Miller]

http://www.earthisland.org/journal/inde ... _aflutter/
All Aflutter
The Flap Over the Mail Order Butterfly Industry
BY ADAM FEDERMAN

[Paul Cherubini]

Despite the enormous growth of the monarch release industry in the western USA, O.e. infection rates have actually gone down in the West recently.

In a post to western_monarchs@yahoo.com on Jan 23, 2011, Gail Morris of Phoenix, Arizona wrote: "When I talked to [Project] Monarch Health on the phone before I sent my [Arizona] samples in they mentioned O.e. rates were lower in the West recently."

[Mona Miller]

OMG, am I surprised that you posted first. One case, one year, stop breathing all the pesticides/herbicides you put down it is affecting your brain.

Wild caught, farm raised, or raised at home? It does make a difference.

You posted the list serve, but not where the message is posted. Why? Are you taking part of the message again and not posting the complete message? Old habitats.

[Paul Cherubini]

Wild caught, farm raised, or raised at home? It does make a difference.

It's not me or Gail Morris who made the claim " O.e. rates were lower in the West recently." Project Monarch Health made those claims.

Another relevant discovery was made last fall - see message #3049 dated Jan. 28, 2011 to western_monarchs@yahoo.com Namely, Gail Morris compared spore counts of WILD late summer and early fall Arizona fall migrants with WILD October fall migrants in Eagle Pass, Texas. And contrary to what Sonia Altizer has been saying for years; (i.e.
that western monarchs have much higher spore counts),
the AZ monarchs turned out to have slightly LOWER spore counts
 than the TX monarchs!



Thus we see:

1) Arizona fall migrants still have low O.e. spore counts even after 10+ years of commercial butterfly releases in the West.

2) Spore counts of Arizona fall migrants have similar or slightly LOWER than spore counts than Texas fall migrants even though Arizona monarchs are considered western monarchs and Texas monarchs are considered eastern Monarchs.

[Mona Miller]

There you go again posting the website and not the message. Why? Do you expect people to search? And, where the heck is the message from Sonia Altizer. You really expect me to trust you. I can't, you have posted way to much misinformation. You'd think you'd learn. If you really want people to listen to you, stop telling lies. Putting truth and misinformation together is not acceptable.

I'm not one of the people who is afraid to call you on what you are posting and there are others here who will do the same.