The Monarch May Soon Be Listed as Threatened—With Big Implications for Texas Butterfly Breeders

After Kathy Marshburn lost a child, she didn’t know how she’d move on. Violet was only two months old when she died unexpectedly, of a heart condition, in 2002. Marshburn, who lived in the Houston suburb of Humble, was unmoored by grief. Finding a way forward felt impossible, especially around the anniversaries of Violet’s birth and death. Then Kathy saw a butterfly release at the funeral of a friend.Something about the natural spectacle made her decide that raising the colorful insects would be her way to both honor her daughter and help others with their grief. “I just had an epiphany,” says Marshburn, who today is the executive director of the International Butterfly Breeders Association. “I was like, ‘That is amazing, that’s beautiful, and it’s hopeful…

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