Customer Reviews

Milkweed, Monarchs and More: A Field Guide to the Invertebrate Community in the Milkweed Patch

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This is an amazing book with a tremendous amount of information about milkweed and the insects that depend on it. A great choice for anyone interested in Milkweed, Monarchs, ecology,habitat, etc. Highly recommended for teachers or parents who are using Monarchs as part of the curriculum. So many photos! If only it were a "coffee-table" book! But still great just the way it is.

In my Review of the excellent The Monarch Butterfly: Biology and Conservation I suggested that a general introduction would have made the book more useful to the general reader. This beautiful little book would serve the purpose very well.

It contains 30 colorful pictures documenting each stage of the insect's life. The text is clear and easy to read without speaking down to the reader. The book is divided into five main section.

The first section details the life cycle, from eggs, to caterpillar to chrysalis to adult. The second deals with overwintering roosts or colonies in the states of Michoacan and California. It describes the five known over-wintering sites, and the weaknesses in the Mexican government's protection.

The third describes the migration of the Monarchs to the north and northeast, well over 2,000 miles. The adult Monarchs drink nectar of many flowering plants - but the eggs must be laid on a milkweed plant. The caterpillars eat the milkweed, and the milk serves many purposes in the growth of the caterpillar into a Monarch.

The fourth describes threats to habitat, and predators, parasites and pathogens, herbicides and pesticides. The fifth discusses describes the return journey.

Schappert ends with a page on what the reader can do to help the Monarchs: become involved with local and national clubs, contribute to political action groups, plant milkweeds and favorite nectar plants in your garden.

This book is a useful supplement to The Monarch Butterfly: Biology and Conservation and to the splendid websites devoted to the insect. Google "monarch watch" , "monarch lab" , and "journey north"

Robert C. Ross 2008

Don't be dismayed that Milkweed, Monarchs and More first edition has sold out and vendors are selling what they have for $18 and more. There is a new Milkweed,Monarchs and More, Updated Second Edition, Field Version, Milkweed, Monarchs and More, A Field guide to the Inverterate Community in the Milkweed Patch Updated Second Edition Field Version which is the same small sized, inexpensive ($9.00) gem of a book with even more milkweed species and milkweed community members covered. We got it out into the world in May 2011. Enjoy! Ba Rea, Bas Relief, LLC

Instead of repeating other reviewers, I focus on a few topics. The introduction to taxonomy, basic insect anatomy, and the geographic-range maps of milkweed species are very helpful.

The casual student of monarch butterfly biology may not fully appreciate the many enemies faced by this creature. The authors show a jumping spider attacking a monarch caterpillar. Tachinid flies lay eggs on the monarch caterpillar. The eggs then hatch into larvae that burrow into the monarch caterpillar and gradually devour it from within. The monarch larvae are usually not killed until the late instar stage. Telltale signs of this infection include a dead caterpillar with silky threads emanating from it, or a holed monarch pupa with silky threads hanging from it. These indicate the emergence of the tachinid larvae that has proceeded to pupate on the ground.

Some of the monarch's enemies are microscopic. For instance, the protozoan parasite (abbreviated O. E. for its scientific name) completes its life cycle in the monarch larva, pupa, and adult. The infection spreads through spores deposited on milkweed leaves, and the numbers of spores are increased when caterpillars are raised together in captivity. (This obviously behooves the one who is raising monarchs to house the larvae individually. Perhaps rinsing the leaves under a pressurized water jet, before introducing them as food for captive monarch larvae, could also help).

Excellent little book to learn all about the milkweed community of insects. I have been raising Monarchs for a number of years, managing a butterfly house, and still learned a lot.