Florida roadsides may become 10,200-acre corridor for monarch butterflies

If you have driven through rural roads in northern Florida recently, you may have noticed new wildflower signs and patches of orange flowers growing along the roadside. These are not just for decoration. They are part of a large conservation effort to help monarch butterflies and many other pollinating insects.Scientists from the Florida Museum of Natural History and the Florida Department of Transportation have planted thousands of milkweed plants along roadsides across northern Florida. The project aims to create safe feeding and breeding areas for monarch butterflies, whose numbers have declined over the years.The team has already planted about 15,000 milkweed plants, and early results are encouraging. Scientists say the plants are growing well, and monarch butterflies have already started visiting them, Science X reported.Butterfly corridorsThe project is part of a wider programme led by the University of Illinois Chicago.