Posts Tagged: population
UC Davis Professor Louie Yang: On Conserving the Western Monarch Population
"Recent studies have continued to shed light on the ecology of monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) in western North America. These studies have documented a declining overwintering population over several decades, punctuated by unexpected variability in recent years. Understanding this...
A monarch leaving a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola. This image was taken in a pollinator garden in Vacaville. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A male monarch nectaring on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola, in Vacaville. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Monarch Population May Be 'Fluttering Back'
Let the count begin! Researchers and volunteers in a three-week project headed by the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation are now counting the Western monarch population at overwintering sites along the California coast. It all began Saturday. An unofficial count estimates...
A cluster of monarchs overwintering in an 80-foot-high eucalyptus tree at the Natural Bridges State Park, Santa Cruz, on Nov. 14, 2016. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The Look-at 'Cats
They were the "Look-at-Cats." The feral cats on our farm (the progeny of strays dropped off by "imperfect" strangers) became known as "The Look-at-Cats." You couldn't touch, pet or hold them. You could feed them, though, and spay or neuter them--if you could catch them. And you could name them,...
A male monarch on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Winter Monarchs: Thankfully, They're Out There
Thankfully, they're out there. Butterfly guru Art Shapiro, UC Davis distinguished professor of evolution and ecology, spotted a female monarch butterfly at 1:35 today. As he mentioned in his email: "So, at 1:25 p.m. a female monarch flew directly over my head, roughly 8' off the ground, near...
A monarch caterpillar and a honey bee sharing tropical milkweed, Asclepias curassavica, in the summer of 2020 in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
This is the graph that WSU entomologist David James posted on his Facebook research page, Monarchs Butterflies in the Pacific Northwest.
A Memorable Year for the Western Monarchs
It's definitely going to be quite a memorable year for the Western monarch butterflies--memorable as in "record low populations at the overwintering sites along the California coast." Matthew Shepherd, director of communications and outreach at the Xerces Society for Invertebrate...
Monarchs overwintering in the Natural Bridges State Park, Santa Cruz, in 2016. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A male monarch nectaring on Mexican sunflower, Tithonia, in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)