Is
Nectar Important in the Monarch's Overwintering Habitat?
Scientists
Don’t Always Agree
Dr. Bill Calvert thinks scientists need more research to see what role nectar plays in the winter months.
"As far as I'm concerned, the question about whether nectaring is important is unresolved at this time," says Dr. Calvert. "Brower's study suggests that butterflies are wasting their time nectaring, and I have a little trouble with the notion of creatures wasting their time in nature."
He agrees that there are too many butterflies for local plants to supply sufficient nectar.
"However," Dr. Calvert says, "we don't know much about what they do if they survive until, say, the beginning of March. It may be that the ones that are starving are just driven out of the colony and they find nectar on the routes to the north.
"That's a real possibility. We haven't really measured. We haven't looked at butterflies to the north of the overwintering areas. Indeed they are almost impossible to catch and measure."
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