John Clayton
Several times in the past, we have discussed the monarch butterfly
as an example of the incredible design that has been built into living
things. The migratory pattern of monarchs is an incredible thing to
study as they travel thousands of miles from their summering areas to
their wintering areas in Mexico or in central California. The mechanisms
of flight which allow them to take advantage of wind is another
area of study that is fascinating. How these butterflies know to fly
high in the air when the wind is behind them and close to the ground
when the wind is against them, giving them optimum use of wind
currents, is a mystery.
A new discovery has added to our appreciation of this incredible
creature. Monarchs have a built-in protective device to avoid being
eaten. The protective device is a noxious chemical that accumulates
in their body due to their diet. The main food of he monarch
caterpillar is milkweed which contains cardenolide, a toxin that tastes
bad and prevents animals from eating the monarch. When the
monarch migrates, there is no milkweed on their migratory journey
and thus no cardenolide.
The monarch avoids becoming a food for animals by sipping the
nectar of a variety of plants which contain pyrrolizidine alkaloids.
This material is also toxic and simply picks up where the cardenolides
leave off. For this butterfly to have a diet which builds one toxin in
their body in the summer and builds a different toxin which accomplishes
the same purpose in the winter is hard to explain by chance.
We would suggest that the monarch works its magic by the design of
its Creator.
This article taken from: Does God Exist?, January/February 1996
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