Posts Tagged: butterflies
'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.
In Search of Butterflies
Oh, to find a butterfly in January. Butterfly guru Art Shapiro, UC Davis distinguished professor of evolution and ecology, knows where they are. As mentioned in a previous Bug Squad blog, he spotted...
Red admiral, Vanessa atalanta. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Gulf Fritillary, Agraulis vanillae. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Mourning Cloak, Nymphalis antiopa. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
West Coast Lady, Vanessa annabella. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A Floral Bouquet Graced with Four Monarch Eggs
2020 was a troubling year for the monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus. The severe population decline led the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation to seek endangered species...
This "floral bouquet" of milkweed contains four monarch eggs. Image taken in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
No Federal Protection for the Monarch Butterflies
Yes, monarch butterflies qualify for the Endangered Species list. But no, we can't protect them because we don't have the money. That's the gist of what the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)...
A monarch butterfly nectaring on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifolia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A male monarch spreads its wings as it nectars on Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifolia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Monarchs overwintering in the Natural Bridges State Park, Santa Cruz, in 2016. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)