Posts Tagged: David James
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)
A Fascinating, Must-Read Book: 'The Lives of Butterflies'
“Butterflies are treasures, like great works of art. Should we not value them as much as the beauty of Picasso's art or the music of Mozart or the Beatles?—Lincoln Brower (1931-2018), renowned Lepidopterist educated at Princeton and Yale universities. The Brower quote...
In the field: David James, an entomologist and associate professor at Washington State University.
A monarch butterfly on Tithonia rotundifola in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Monarch 'Cats Sleeping with the Aphids
Sleeping with the aphids...that's what this monarch caterpillar was doing. It lived--and quite hidden at that--through the freezing cold, the rain, and the wind. It surfaced today on a milkweed in our Vacaville pollinator garden. Surprise, surprise! We neither saw it as an egg nor as a tiny...
A monarch caterpillar sharing a milkweed leaf with oleander aphids on Dec. 8, 2023 in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Milkweed going to seed on Dec. 8, 2023 in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Monarchs on the Move...So Many Mysteries
Monarchs on the move...so many mysteries. Where do Western monarchs go after leaving their overwintering sites along coastal California in February? An observation: They didn't stop in the spring or summer to deposit eggs on any of our four species of milkweed in our...
A tiny monarch egg. Image taken on Nov. 14, 2023 in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A monarch caterpillar sharing a milkweed leaf with aphids. This image was taken Nov. 15, 2023 in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Two monarch caterpillars sharing a milkweed leaf. This image was taken Nov. 15, 2023 in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A very hungry monarch caterpillar on the move. This image was taken Nov. 18, 2023 in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Hi, there! A monarch caterpillar faces the camera. This image was taken Nov. 14, 2023 in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
WSU Entomologist David James on Irish Podcast: Exploring The Lives of Butterflies
You'll want to hear Ireland scientist Éanna Ní Lamhna's RTÉ podcast featuring Washington State University entomologist David James, co-author of a newly published book, The Lives of Butterflies: A Natural History of Our Planet's Butterfly Life (Princeton University)...
A male monarch nectaring on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola, in a Vacaville, Calif. garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)