SC - Evolution of food-genetics of food

[Mordonna22 at aol.com]

In a message dated 3/18/2000 3:56:01 AM US Mountain Standard Time, 
CorwynWdwd at aol.com writes:

<< 
 Like all grasses, corn is wind-pollinated, and the pollen can be blown more 
 than 60 yards from the edge of cornfields. "Pollen is that yellow dusting 
 your car gets on spring and summer days; pollen is everywhere," >>

yeah, but it ain't all corn pollen.  There are other grasses, and fruits, and 
trees and bushes and flowers blooming in high summer, you know.

<<
In the laboratory tests, monarchs fed milkweed leaves dusted with so-called 
transformed pollen from a Bt-corn hybrid ate less, grew more slowly and 
suffered a higher mortality rate, the researchers report. Nearly half of 
these larvae died,>>

Anyone know the percentage of wild monarch larvae that die in a season 
naturally?

<<
Several factors make monarch caterpillars particularly likely to make contact 
with corn pollen, Losey says. Monarch larvae feed exclusively on milkweed 
because it provides protection against predators. The plant contains 
cardenolides, which are toxic, bitter chemicals that the monarch caterpillar 
incorporates into its body tissues, rendering it unpalatable to predators. 
Milkweed grows best in "disturbed" habitats, like the edges of cornfields, >>

And how much milkweed grows in "disturbed" habitats like the edges of potato 
fields?  or wheat fields?

So, just how much of an added risk factor is this to the monarch population?  
How many monarchs are killed in milkweed within sixty yards of cornfields 
sprayed with pesticides?  How does it compare to the number actually killed 
by the bt-Corn?

I am not saying that genetically altered species are all innocuously 
beneficial, only trying to point out how this release was weighted to give 
the impression that this particular one is a special hazard.  

Mordonna the Cook,
SunDragon's Western Reaches
Atenveldt
(m.k.a. Buckeye, AZ)