Liam O'Brien was sitting down for dinner Sept. 27 when he flipped on the television news to see a flock of monarch butterflies delighting the opening day crowds at the California Academy of Sciences - and just about choked on his meal.

Where the happy crowds saw a colorful display of natural wonder, O'Brien saw a flock of alien invaders - just a few flaps away from the grove of eucalyptus trees where he volunteers each year to count the local population of monarchs as part of a statewide monitoring program.

"To release ... butterflies so close to a roost completely compromises the season," O'Brien said. "I cannot walk into the Botanical Garden and say those are not from the back of some woman's car."

A few butterflies more or less might seem to make little difference. But those orange intruders flapped straight into a controversy: a debate over (more...)