The king of the butterflies may reign no more: Monarch butterflies are experiencing a steady decline, a new report says, with the insects occupying the smallest area of land in one Mexican butterfly reserve than they have in two decades.
In December 2012, scientists surveying monarch habitat in Mexico's Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve found the insects occupied 59 percent less land than the previous year—the smallest area recorded in 20 years. (Watch a video of monarch butterflies.)
Nine butterfly colonies were found in just 2.94 acres (1.19 hectares) of land, compared with 7.14 acres (2.89 hectares) in 2011 and a high of 44.9 acres (18.19 hectares) in 1997, according to the report, released March 13.
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