Are monarch butterflies really being massacred? A new study says it’s a lot more complicated than it seems

By Sarah Kaplan August 5

Photo: Sandra Cox/MNN Flickr Group

Every school child who has raised butterflies in her classroom can recognize a monarch: the tiny creature with tawny wings whose annual migration across North America is considered one of the most impressive in the world.

They are one of the country’s most charismatic species and certainly our favorite bug. But thanks to pesticide use, habitat loss and climate change, they are in mortal peril.

Or so we have always thought. Read more.