Posts Tagged: U.S. Fish and Wildlife
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) said today. USFWS director Aurelia Skipwith announced in a news release: "We...
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)
The Sad State of the Overwintering Monarch Population in California
Where are all the overwintering monarchs? If you traveled to the Natural Bridges State Park in Santa Cruz this fall or to any of the other overwintering monarch sites along coastal California to see these iconic butterflies, did you see very many? Probably not. The Xerces Society of Invertebrate...
Overwintering monarchs in the Berkeley Aquatic Park on Nov. 26, 2015. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Native bees buzz a monarch sipping on Tithonia in Vacaville, Calif. Nov. 14, 2016. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Look Out, Franklin's Bumble Bee, They're Coming for You!
Look out, Franklin's bumble bee, they're coming for you! The question is: Where are you? Have you managed to "hide" all these years or are you extinct? A “search party” of scientists and citizen scientists is forming to look for Franklin's bumble bee and other rare bumble bees from...
Bumble bee expert Robbin Thorp of UC Davis with his computer screen showing a photo he took of Franklin's bumble bee, now feared extinct. He last saw it on Aug. 9, 2006 in a meadow near Mt. Ashland. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
This is the Western bumble bee, Bombus occidentalis, found Aug. 15, 2012 by Mt. Shasta. It is on the endangered list. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)