People have an infatuation with Monarch butterflies and that's especially seeing the Mexican culture as monarch symbolize a connection between the living and the dead.

Those fun connections to the beloved species have resulted in efforts to bring the butterflies back from the brink of extinction.

But a new study from the University of Georgia suggests we may be doing more harm than good to our when good friends.

Our own Patty Woodley joins us now to tell us more.

Patty had to tell on a butterfly's or one of my favorites the season.

You know, I talking about a Under Barr flies annually migrate to Mexico.

What did the study find about their migration?

>> Well, if found it took like 17 of data of observations of their recce, which is how they kind of all hang out together in trees when they're resting in the size of those routes.

>> Gets smaller and smaller and smaller.

The further they get toward Mexico.

And so the question is, why are we losing so many of them along the route?

Are they stopping?

Their migration?

Are they dying?

Did they lose the ability to migrate?

So those are the concerns as they're seeing the numbers drop off.

They start off strong and then so many of them don't make it to Mexico.

What did you find so interesting about the study?

>> Well, one of the culprits, as you mentioned, seems to be what's called tropical milkweed.

That is a non native milkweed.

Everybody's been told Plant Milkweed milkweed milkweed.

There's native kinds but tropical milkweed.

>> Is not native.

It's bad because has this parasite in it that does all sorts of things to the monarch at in terms of being either deadly.

They can't reproduce is well, they can't fly as well but also kind of messes with their ability to judge when they should migrate because it stays flowering so much longer in the north, they could miss their cue that they need to head south.

Another issue is everybody wants to cap to rear their monarchs.

They want to bring in those caterpillars and make them safe and then release them.

And those have been proven to not be as fit to make that trek south.

So we might be thinking we're planting milkweed.

That's great.

We're keeping them safe and then releasing them great.

But those things could actually be leading to declines in numbers.

So interesting.

I had no idea.

I know.

But that's what I'm here for that we're hope we can continue to keep the monarch safe.

We all Thanks.

And you