Wild Things

pile of butterfly wings on the ground beneath a stand of milkweed: Such a sight puzzled Ballwin resident Krystal Kearns Coxon and her three kids. Their home garden bristled with the native plants, which they’d planted in hopes of supporting monarchs on their life journey. The Coxon kids had even raised milkweed seedlings under grow lights and sold them to neighbors at the end the family wondered,  The Coxons decided: They searched online and found that praying mantises, which resemble milkweed branches, survive by snatching up hapless monarchs who land on that species of plant. Sure enough, the kids went looking for mantises and saw some. They learned that all three organisms—monarch, mantis, milkweed—are interconnected. “It made us sad, ” says Coxon, “but it was an opportunity to learn.”