Seeing the black-and-orange wings of a threatened Monarch butterfly in Hollis Garden, I felt lucky.
The majestic insect paused briefly on the garden’s dwarf poinciana tree before fluttering away. I had to move quickly to get a photo.
On my way out of the garden, I glimpsed another, smaller butterfly: mostly black with specks of blue and a blotch of red. Like the Monarch, it was fleeting, but I didn’t worry about a picture. I was there for the Monarchs.
It wasn’t until later that I learned this, too, was a significant encounter with a species not just threatened but once considered extinct.
Stacy Smith, horticulturalist for the city of Lakeland, tells me that this less-recognizable butterfly is the Atala, black with iridescent blue spots and a bright red-orange abdomen.
In the late 1800s, settlers in Florida over-harvested the Coontie palm plant, making flour from its roots and stripping the Atala of its host.
From 1937 until 1959, the Atala was thought to be extinct, but in 1979, the species was encountered again on an island off the coast near Miami. Today’s Atalas are thought to be their descendants.
According to Smith, efforts by the city of Lakeland, including three releases of the Atala in the Hollis butterfly garden, have been instrumental in re-establishing the population in Central Florida.
Conservation efforts: Over 80% of agricultural food production depends on pollinators like the Monarch and Atala, making them crucial to ecosystems in North America.
For years, the city of Lakeland has made conservation efforts, as evidenced by pollinator-attracting plants in landscaping and gardens around the city and the butterfly garden, certified by the North American Butterfly Association, within Hollis Garden. But as Smith says, “Some things that don’t have flowers are butterfly attractants,” including oak trees, which attract Skipper butterflies, and many of the city’s efforts are similarly inconspicuous.
In 2022, the city created a butterfly habitat in a field east of the dog park at Lake Crago. Smith explains that this somewhat-isolated area is a wet prairie where the city has cultivated several species of native milkweed for caterpillars, and nectar plants, like Coreopsis and Goldenrod, for the butterflies and other pollinators.
When possible, seeds are harvested from these plants, then grown in the city nursery. Later, they’re planted at the Lake Crago site and others around the city to further conservation efforts.
In addition to planting these insect-friendly plants, the area at Lake Crago is only mowed in February, once a year, while plants are dormant.
Since beginning this practice, not only has Smith observed a healthy butterfly population, but he has found native orchids growing in the area.
Recently, the city has been planting native pink and white swamp milkweed. Both of these species go dormant once a year, which helps prevent ophryocystis elektroscirrha (OE), a parasite that negatively affects Monarchs.
The city does not use insecticides on plants that attract pollinators.
Lakelanders can also get involved in conservation efforts. Groups can volunteer to plant the seedlings grown from harvested seeds, and at certain events throughout the year, the city nursery gives out native milkweed plants for home gardens.
Smith advises Lakelanders who have Mexican milkweed, a non-native species that does not go dormant, to trim it to the ground once or twice a year to help prevent OE.
Paying off: Like the efforts that resurrected the Atala, this year, more hospitable weather patterns and conservation around the country and in Mexico paid off for Monarchs.
In order to survive during winter, eastern Monarchs must travel south to find warmer temperatures in Mexico. These butterflies, some of which pass through Lakeland, make a multigenerational journey of up to 3,000 miles.
According to the latest survey data released in March 2025, the eastern Monarch butterfly population overwintering in Mexico this past year increased by 99%.
Monarch populations are measured by the space they occupy. This past winter, eastern Monarchs occupied 4.42 acres of Mexican forests, as compared to 2.22 acres in the previous year. On average between 8.1 to 12.1 million Monarchs occupy each acre.
This increase is substantial, but scientists estimate 6 hectares, or 14.82 acres, is necessary to support a sustainable Monarch population. Continued conservation is critical to ensure the survival of the species. The city of Lakeland is doing its part.
Anna Toms is a reporter for LkldNow, a nonprofit newsroom providing independent local news for Lakeland. Read at LkldNow.com.
