The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation is selling pollinator license plates and sending 65% of the proceeds to the Pollinator Habitat Program Fund, which supports ongoing efforts to restore populations of insects that pollinate plants.

The fund will create gardens and meadows with flowering plants for bees, butterflies, beetles and other insects adversely affected by the loss of native habitat. Another goal of the program is to help reverse the decline of federally listed threatened or endangers species such as the monarch butterfly.

The plates are available for passenger cars or trucks with a registered gross weight of not more than 14,000 pounds. The plate contains the standard Pennsylvania license plate colors of blue, white and gold. It depicts an image of a monarch butterfly, honeybee and green sweat bee visiting a flower.

Applicants for the plates must complete and submit a Form MV-911, “Application for Special Fund Registration Plate.”

“The importance of supporting a healthy pollinator population in Pennsylvania — a state that depends on agriculture as part of its economy — cannot be overstated,” said Mike Carroll, acting PennDOT secretary.

“Pollinators are critical to the environment and to feeding Pennsylvanians,” said Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding. “One out of every three bites we eat is made possible because of pollinators and their role in promoting biodiversity and plant health in our food system.”