Posts Tagged: butterflies
The Look-at 'Cats
They were the "Look-at-Cats." The feral cats on our farm (the progeny of strays dropped off by "imperfect" strangers) became known as "The Look-at-Cats." You couldn't touch, pet or hold them. You...
A male monarch on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Jeff Smith Zooms in on 'Mimicry in Butterflies and Moths'
Butterflies and moths totally fascinate entomologist Jeff Smith, the 32-year volunteer curator of the Bohart Museum of Entomology's Lepidoptera collection. Smith loves...
Entomologist Jeff Smith, curator of the Lepidoptera collection at the Bohart Museum of Entomology laments the declining population of monarchs and advocates that people plant milkweed and nectar sources in their gardens. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Larva of the Anise swallowtail, Papillo zelicaon, resembles a bird dropping. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The passionflower, host plant of the Gulf Fritillary, offers toxicity to the caterpillars. This image shows two Gulf Fritillary caterpillars munching on the plant. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Entomologist Jeff Smith, curator of the Lepidoptera collection at the Bohart Museum, talks to visitors in this pre-COVID pandemic image. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
UC Davis Picnic Day Going Virtual--With Insects, Too!
It's just not a picnic without insects. And when the 107th annual UC Davis Picnic Day goes virtual on Saturday, April 17, the insects will go virtual, too. The UC Davis Department of...
Let the races begin! A scene from the 2019 UC Davis Picnic Day cockroach races. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Entomologist Jeff Smith, curator of the Lepidoptera collection at the Bohart Museum of Entomology, shows a display of monarchs. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
'Climate Change' May Be a Key Factor in Declining Butterfly Populations
The public tends to blame habitat loss and pesticides for the declining butterfly populations in the Western United States. But climate change, aka global warming, may be an equal, if not more, of a...
Edith’s checkerspot (Euphydryas editha) is one of the species declining in at least two datasets quoted in the Science publication. (Photo courtesy of Walter Siegmund, Wikipedia)
UC Davis distinguished professor Art Shapiro monitoring butterfly populations along Gates Canyon Road, Vacaville. This image was taken Jan. 25, 2014. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Winter Monarchs: Thankfully, They're Out There
Thankfully, they're out there. Butterfly guru Art Shapiro, UC Davis distinguished professor of evolution and ecology, spotted a female monarch butterfly at 1:35 today. As he mentioned in his...
A monarch caterpillar and a honey bee sharing tropical milkweed, Asclepias curassavica, in the summer of 2020 in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
This is the graph that WSU entomologist David James posted on his Facebook research page, Monarchs Butterflies in the Pacific Northwest.