ASSOCIATED PRESS • July 21, 2022
The monarch butterfly fluttered a step closer to extinction Thursday, as scientists put the iconic orange-and-black insect on the endangered list because of its fast dwindling numbers. Nick Haddad, a conservation biologist at Michigan State University, estimates that the population of monarch butterflies he studies in the eastern United States has declined between 85% and 95% since the 1990s. The butterflies are imperiled by loss of habitat and increased use of herbicides and pesticides for agriculture, as well as climate change.