FENTON TWP. — Carmoleta Foley watches as a recently hatched female monarch butterfly clings to her fingertips.

It flexes its wings before rushing back to the window of her kitchen, Foley’s colorful flower garden just beyond.

“Everyone’s starting to call me the butterfly lady,” she said.

This is the second monarch she’s released back into nature. One morning last month, another emerged from its chrysalis in the mesh box she built just for this purpose. Nearby is her “menagerie” of monarch butterflies in various stages of development, along with a calendar of their progress.

It’s a small act in the face of a big problem. Monarchs, which are vital to the earth’s ecosystem because they pollinate wildflowers while feeding, are dwindling in population in Michigan and nationwide.