Humans are driving a rare Texas plant that serves as an important food source for bees and butterflies “to the edge of extinction”

Prostrate lettuce, a rare plant native to Texas and northeastern Mexico, is part of an import support system for monarch bees and butterflies. But now the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering naming the plant an endangered species as humans destroy its critical habitats.

The USFWS on Monday proposed the endangered species list, saying it made its proposal based on “best available status.”

Chris Best, a botanist at the USFWS in Texas, said prostrate albacore flowers “attract and support native pollinators,” including large bees and wasps, and serve as a host plant for to the monarch butterflies.

“Unfortunately, this species is negatively affected by the competition from the introduced buffelgrass and the increased development in its native Tamaulipan scrub habitat,” Best said.

The agency also pointed to humans for depleting the resource, saying root plowing, border security and enforcement activities, energy development, construction of roads and utilities, and maintenance of the right of way. they have caused habitat loss and degradation.

To help conserve the plant, the service has proposed nearly 700 acres of critical habitat in eight occupied areas in Starr and Zapata counties near the Rio Grande. These areas were decided because they have essential characteristics for the conservation of the species.

Currently, only 24 plant populations remain in these counties, 19 of which are in low conditions, according to the Center for Biological Diversity, an organization that has promoted protected status.

Milk is a vital host plant for monarch butterflies, feeding monarch larvae as they develop into butterflies. They also provide large amounts of nectar to bees and tarantula falcons, according to the Center for Biological Diversity.

“I hope that the protection of the Endangered Species Act will keep the prostrate milk bloom in South Texas for generations to come,” Michael Robinson, who represents the organization, said in a statement. “This fascinating plant long ago secured a sunny niche in difficult landscapes, but human development brings it to the brink of extinction. Federal action is crucial.”

The proposed rule was published Tuesday in the Federal Register, where people can submit comments until April 18.

Environmentalists have long sought to protect prostrate milk under the Endangered Species Act. There was a request for the plant to be considered endangered in 2007, and in 2009, USFWS “found that the request contained substantial information that the list could be justified.”

Milk protection could also help with bee conservation efforts.

In 2020, scientists concluded climate change is killing bumblebeesfinding that the probability of a bumblebee population surviving in one place in North America and Europe has decreased by an average of 30% in a human generation.

In Texas, honey production and bee colonies declined last year, according to the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. The massive winter storm that shook the state in 2021 delayed the flowering of wildflowers and killed bees, especially in South Texas, as they were not acclimatized to sudden freezing temperatures, the service said. The lack of rain also contributed to the lack of food availability for bees.

In:
• Endangered species
• Mexico
• bees
• Texas
• Border between Mexico and the United States