Posts Tagged: butterflies
Beekeepers Among Those Benefiting from Vacaville Fire Art Project
Some lost everything: Their homes, their barns, their farm animals, their bees, their livelihoods. The recent wildfire that roared through rural Vacaville, reaching the outer edges of the city,...
Artist Lisa Rico painted this photo of lavender and bees for the Vacaville Fire Art Project she founded. It's titled "Making Honey" and was purchased by Andrea Hofmann-Miller. Among fire victims were beekeepers and Girl on the Hill Boutique Vineyard and Lavender.
A honey bee buzzes over a sunflower in this painting, "Sun-Bee" by Lisa Rico for the Vacaville Fire Art Project. This one was purchased by Tiffany Murdaca.
A lady beetle, aka ladybug, climbs the stalk of a sunflower in this painting by Lisa Rico, founder of the Vacaville Fire Art Project. It's titled "Sun's Going to Shine Again" and was purchased by Aumrey Moland.
Honey bees forage in a field of lavender in this painting, titled "Honey Makers," by Lisa Rico. It was sold to Joie Moralde, with proceeds benefitting fire victims.
A monarch butterfly flutters through a field of lavender. Painting by Lisa Rico. This one is titled "Monarch Muse."
A 'Very Poor Year' for Monarchs in Pacific Northwest
It's been a "very poor year" for monarch butterflies in the Pacific Northwest. So, folks, if you're in their migratory pathway and anticipate seeing them head toward...
This migrating monarch flew from a vineyard in Ashland, Ore. to a garden in Vacaville, Calif. in 2016. This amounted to 285 miles in seven days or about 40.7 miles per day, according to WSU entomologist David James, who studies migratory monarchs.(Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A tattered and torn migrating monarch in Vacaville, Calif. This image was taken in 2016. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A newly eclosed female monarch. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A newly eclosed male monarch. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Welcome to the World of Monarchs, Greta!
Welcome to the world of monarchs, Greta! We don't normally name the monarch butterflies we rear, but we decided that the first one reared from an egg "The Greg Way" would be named for...
This monarch caterpillar was reared from an egg collected on a tropical milkweed, Asclepias curassavica, in a Vacaville pollinator garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The newly eclosed monarch caterpillar named "Greta" latches onto a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundiflora. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Greta, a monarch butterfly reared from an egg, is anxious to get where she's going. And fast. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Monarch butterflies start out as a near microscopic egg. This image was taken with a Canon MPE-65mm lens. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
After hatching from egg to larva (caterpillar), it eats its shell and then begins munching on milkweed. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The monarch caterpillar munches milkweed; it will go through five instars. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The jade-green monarch chrysalis is one of nature's jewels. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The Joy of Rearing Monarchs
The monarch butterfly egg is oh-so-very-tiny but what an incredible work of nature! The intricate egg is about the size of a pinhead, 0.9mm wide and 1.2mm high. It's creamy yellow with narrow...
This is a close-up of a monarch egg, taken with a Canon MPE-65mm lens. It is about the size of a pinhead. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Three monarch eggs, one on each milkweed leaf (tropical milkweed Asclepias curassavica). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
This is the small container that the Garvey family uses to rear monarch eggs. It is about 2 inches wide. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Be aware that if you collect a monarch caterpillar or chrysalis, it may already be parasitized. It is better to start with the egg, says Bohart Museum of Entomology associate Greg Kareofelas. Note the tachinid-infested chrysalis (brown spot). This image, taken in July 2020, shows two chrysalids and three newly eclosed monarchs. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
This is part of the Greg Kareofelas setup to rear butterflies. He rears many species. Note the packing foam and chrysalis (not a monarch). (Photo by Greg Kareofelas)
A Monarch Paradise in July
Monarchs, bless their little hearts, souls and wings, deposited 16 eggs on our milkweed plants in July. Being quite obliging and considerate, we like to give the monarchs, Danaus...
A monarch caterpillar molting. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A monarch caterpillar j'ing; soon it will be a chrysalis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
From left, a chrysalis about to release a monarch; an empty chrysalis or empty pupal exoskeleton, exuvia; a chrysalis; and an newly eclosed adult monarch. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A newly eclosed female monarch on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A female monarch nectaring on a tropical milkweed. This milkweed yielded five caterpillars. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)