Butterflies and BT Corn
...ective layer, slowly killing the caterpillar. As a result, almost half of the caterpillars died after ingesting the toxins. Still researchers were torn between the harmful effects Bt-corn had on the monarch, and the positive effects it had on corn production and biotechnology in agriculture. Bt-corn and the monarch butterfly crisis was also the topic of conversation in the weekly issue of Science News Online. As the Cornell University release had stated the outlook for the monarchs, Science News Online also stated their outlook for the monarchs in a similar manner. Simply put, it was not a very promising future if no new data was found in favor of the monarchs. Not only did Science News Online cover everything that Cornell had, they incorporated a few more views on the situation from other experts in the fields of biology, ecology, and entomology. The overall general consensus tended to lean towards the idea that the monarch is too precious to be unintentionally endangering. Yet, as further studies and research have been conducted it has become apparent that the levels of toxin found in the pollen have no acute effect on the monarch caterpillar. In articles published in late 2001 data from a 2 year study was summarized to show that the percentage of Bt-corn that did have an effect on the monarch was minimal enough to be considered negligible. Furthermore, it was shown that even after a maximum 22 day feeding period the percentage of monarchs that displayed problems from the Bt-corn pollen was minimal. It was also found that even though the monarch’s primary breeding and energy source, the milkweed, may come into contact with the Bt-corn pollen there is a greater risk of the monarch coming into contact with more harmful products than the Bt-corn pollen. This data subsequently shows that there is a higher destruction risk to the monarch population when insecticides and weed controls are introduced into their environment than when they are confronted with the problem of Bt-corn pollen. In my opinion I feel that the issues concerning the Bt-corn pollen and the monarch butterfly have been thoroughly researched and discussed. It seems to me that with the data gathered it is apparent that the monarch caterpillar has a higher likelihood of being captured by an inquisitive neighbor boy than it does of perishing from the tox...