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LinkedInPosts Tagged: Steve Johnson
A Look Back at 2016: Monarch Butterflies Reigned
What a marvelous year! Looking back at 2016, monarch butterflies reigned supreme--or at least they did in this Bug Squad blog! Finding--and photographing--a tagged monarch butterfly (monarch@wsu.edu A6083) in our pollinator garden in Vacaville, Calif. on Labor Day, Sept. 5, highlighted the...
This tagged butterfly, part of WSU entomologist David James' migratory research project, flew from Ashland, Ore. on Aug. 28 to Vacaville, Calif. on Sept. 5, or a distance of 285 miles in seven days, or about 40.7 miles a day. It was reared and tagged by Steve Johnson of Ashland and was on its way to an overwintering site along coastal California. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A monarch butterfly laying an egg. Monarchs lay their eggs on the underside of milkweed leaves, their host plant. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A tiny monarch egg. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A monarch caterpillar munching away on showy milkweed, Asclepias speciosa. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The jade-green chrysalids, rimmed in gold, look like precious jewels. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A newly eclosed monarch. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Its wings dried, a newly eclosed monarch is ready for release. This one decided to linger. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Monarch nectaring on milkweed blossoms. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A male monarch spreads its wings on Mexican sunflower (Tithonia). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Just Like a Painting
Western monarchs are on the move. In the Pacific Northwest, they're heading for coastal California, including Santa Cruz and Pacific Grove, for their overwintering spots. A few are tagged. Washington State University entomologist David James and his citizen scientists have tagged some with...
A male monarch nectaring on a Mexican sunflower in a scene that looks like a painting. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The male monarch spreads his wings. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A female monarch lands on the Tithonia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The female flutters away, off to an overwintering site, perhaps in Santa Cruz. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Those Beautiful 'Cats
Late bloomers. Late eaters. Monarch butterflies are migrating now, but we're still finding a few caterpillars in our pollinator garden in Vacaville, Calif. We recently plucked off five caterpillars from our milkweed plants (our game plan is protect them from California scrub jays and other birds,...
A monarch caterpillar outlined against the blue sky in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A monarch caterpillar making the most of it on a broadleaf milkweed, Asclepias speciosa, in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Some of the monarch caterpillars are darker than others. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
That Amazing Migrating Monarch Project
He may have been “born" in an Ashland, Ore., vineyard. But at least we know he hails from Ashland. That's what we learned about the male monarch that fluttered into our pollinator garden in Vacaville, Calif. on Monday, Sept. 5 (Labor Day) on his way to an overwintering site along the...
This migratory monarch, released Aug. 28 from Ashland, Ore. and tagged with monarch@wsu.edu A6093, nectared on Mexican sunflower in Vacaville, Calif. on Sept. 5. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
This is the vineyard in Ashland where A6093 may have originated. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
WSU entomologist David James, wearing a monarch t-shirt, with citizen-scientist inmates at Washington State Penitentiary, Walla Walla. (Photo courtesy of WSU)
