Facebook
X (Twitter)
Reddit
Pinterest
Tumblr
LinkedInPosts Tagged: caterpillars
Revisiting the Issue of Monarch Butterflies Missing from California Classrooms
A monarch butterfly caterpillar goes through five stages or instars before it J's and becomes a jade-green chrysalis. Scientists estimate that only 10 percent of the eggs and 'cats survive to adulthood. They don't "survive" at all in California classrooms. California classrooms used to...
A monarch caterpillar crawling on a milkweed leaf. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A male monarch butterfly foraging on a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia rotundifola) in a Vacaville pollinator garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatle Garvey)
Turning Over an Old Leaf
It's New Year's Day and it's common for folks to turn over a new leaf. What about the old leaves? Sometimes if you turn over an old leaf this time of year in Solano and Yolo counties, you might find a monarch caterpillar. As of today, we have two monarchs munching away in our pollinator...
UC Davis distinguished professor emeritus Art Shapiro (right) of the Department of Evolution and Ecology and Louie Yang, professor, Department of Entomology and Nematology at the Bohart Museum of Entomology's recent open house on monarchs. (PHoto by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A monarch munching on milkweed on New Year's Day, 2024, in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Close-up of a monarch caterpillar munching on milkweed on New Year's Day, 2024, in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
'Most Delicious Poison': A Must-Read Book
“A deadly secret lurks within our spice racks, medicine cabinets, backyard gardens, and private stashes,” writes evolutionary biologist Noah Whiteman, author of the newly published book, Most Delicious Poison: the Story of Nature's Toxins—from Spices to Vices (Little, Brown...
A monarch caterpillar munching on milkweed in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Close-up of a monarch munching milkweed in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A newly eclosed male monarch spreads its wings in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Roll Call: Answer If You're Here
Roll call of monarch caterpillars today in a milkweed bed in a Vacaville pollinator garden. Secretary: "Caterpillar No. 1!" "Present." Secretary: "Caterpillar No. 2!" "Present!" Secretary: "Caterpillar No. 3!""Present!" Secretary: "Caterpillar No. 4!""Here!" Secretary:...
A monarch caterpillar, the result of fall breeding in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Gotta Love Those Monarch 'Cats
Did you celebrate National Cat Day on Oct. 29? We haven't had a cat since our 16-year-old tuxedo, Xena the Warrior Princess crossed the Rainbow Bridge in March of 2016. She sported a butterflylike marking on her left leg. Monarch butterflies fascinated her. They brought out "the princess" instead...
A monarch caterpillar chomping on showy milkweed, Asclepias speciosa, in a Vacavile garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Two monarch caterpillars devouring the leaves of a narrowleafed milkweed, Asclepias fascicularis, in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A very hungry caterpillar on milkweed in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A monarch caterpillar and a bee on a tropical milkweed, Asclepias curassavica, in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Xena the Warrior Princess (2000-2016) checking out a monarch butterfly in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
