[Pollinator] Monarch butterfly caterpillar on Ortho insecticide labels

[Matthew Shepherd]

Here's an article from yesterday's LA Times about the discovery that Ortho
Bug-B-Gon and Ortho Flower, Fruit and Vegetable Insect Killer both have an
image of a monarch caterpillar on their labels. Oops. It made me wonder how
long it had been there!

 

The good news is that Ortho say they are changing the label to remove the
monarch. 

 

Matthew

 

 

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-ortho-monarch-20120710,0,7448108.sto
ry?track=lat-email-topofthetimes

Monarch butterfly caterpillar not a 'bad-guy bug,' Ortho is told 

David Snow was unhappy that two Ortho pesticides had images of the monarch
butterfly caterpillar on their packaging despite the fact that it eats only
milkweed. 

By Louis Sahagun, Los Angeles Times 

July 10, 2012

As quests go, the one Thousand Oaks garden designer David Snow embarked on
is a doozy.

For six months, Snow has devoted himself to saving the reputation of
America's most beloved butterfly by getting the world's largest maker of
pesticides to change its ways.

Specifically, Snow wants Ortho to change the labels on its "Bug-B-Gon" and
"Flower, Fruit and Vegetable Insect Killer" so they no longer feature images
of the striking monarch butterfly caterpillar under the ominous vow,
"guaranteed results."

"This campaign isn't intended to bring peace to the world, heal the sick,
end poverty or bring down Ortho," Snow said. "All I want really want to do
is right a wrong."

Snow noticed the labels last winter and called the consumer complaint center
at the company's Ohio headquarters in February. As he recalls, he said: "I'm
sure I'm not the first person to call about this, but why'd you put a
good-guy bug on your insect killer? It's like putting an innocent child's
picture on aU.S. Post Office'Most Wanted' list."

The response: "Can I have the bar code of the product you're calling about,
please?"

Snow, 52, hung up, but he was only getting started.

In the months since, he has become a chronic pest for Ortho and its parent
firm, theScotts Co.LLC, filing formal complaints and urging others to do so
on behalf of monarchs, whose numbers are rapidly dwindling. California's
monarch population has fallen an estimated 80% over the last 15 years due to
urbanization, drought, weed abatement programs and pesticides, said Scott
Black, executive director of the nonprofit Xerces Society, a Portland,
Ore.-based organization dedicated to conservation of invertebrates.

"It's a great effort on behalf of monarchs," Black said of Snow's work. "If
people decide that these companies are too big to tackle nothing will get
done. The labels in question only add another insult to injury for monarchs
out there."

The caterpillars are about 2 3/4 inches long, with a pair of black
antennae-like appendages at either end of a body ringed with black, yellow
and white stripes. They spend most of their three weeks of existence
munching on milkweed leaves - the only plant upon which the caterpillars
feed, a fact that renders them harmless to home gardeners.

Snow has been something of an ambassador. He lectures frequently on the life
cycles and benefits of the large, fragile orange-and-black insect scientists
know as Danaus plexippus.

At Snow's home, the front and back yards are covered with potted stalks of
milkweed, which he offers to clients interested in increasing the number of
monarchs. On a recent weekday, he spent the morning tending waist-high
plants laden with grazing caterpillars destined to metamorphose into
butterflies within six weeks. Dozens of adults fluttered overhead.

Snow's rallying cry - emblazoned on family T-shirts, bumper stickers, coffee
mugs and fence signs: Got Milkweed?

Snow said that all he wants is for the company to revise its labels,
replacing the caterpillar with "a certified bad-guy bug."

Three weeks ago, with Ortho showing no signs it would change the labels,
Snow took his campaign up a notch, posting a petition on the website
change.org <http://www.change.org>  urging people to "force Ortho to
acknowledge their mistake."

As of Monday however, the petition had attracted a modest 239 signatures.

The Times called Ortho for comment Thursday. Kokouvi Danklou, supervisor of
the company's call center, gave The Times a measured response. "Everything
about this case has been forwarded to our marketing team," Danklou said. But
he added: "We consider this a very, very serious matter."

On Friday, Lance Latham, a spokesman for the Scotts Miracle-Gro Co., called
The Times to say: "We're updating that label to ensure there is no confusion
with the monarch butterfly caterpillars. Consumer concerns are something we
always look into."

A few minutes later, a company official left a cheery message on Snow's
business phone.

"Hi there, David," the official said. "I just want to let you know I
followed up on your calls, and we're changing the labels. Thanks for letting
us know about your concerns."

Score one for the butterfly.

louis.sahagun at latimes.com

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