- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
It's Wednesday afternoon, Nov. 1 and a female monarch butterfly flutters into our Vacaville pollinator garden.
Me: "Welcome Ms. Monarch! Aren't you a little late for the migration?"
Ms. Monarch: "No, I'm just a late bloomer,. so to speak. I'm heading to Santa Cruz to join my buddies for the winter and then we'll return in February. Right now, I need some nectar, a little flight fuel, to make it to Santa Cruz, if you don't mind."
Me: "Help yourself, Ms. Monarch. Right now we have several plants blooming, including Mexican sunflower, tropical milkweed, zinnias, blanketflower, catmint, roses, foxgloves, and evening primrose. One of your sisters passed through here Oct. 21 and she laid eggs on the tropical milkweed, Asclepias curassavica. She ignored the native milkweed, Asclepias fascicularis, and the other natives we planted."
Ms. Monarch: "Thank you for giving us a choice."
Me: "You're welcome. But watch out for the spiders and praying mantises."
Ms. Monarch: "Hope they won't catch me!"
Me: "I'll check to see where they are. No, don't see them, but that doesn't mean they're not there."
Ms. Monarch, sipping nectar on the tropical milkweed: "This is delicious. You don't mind if I stay 'n sip, sip 'n stay, or awhile?"
Me: "We planted it for you and your brothers and sisters. Well, for other insects, too, like honey bees and syrphid flies, but mainly for you. There's talk, you know, about being endangered."
Ms. Monarch: "Will my sister's eggs survive?
Me: "Well, between the spiders, ants, wasps, lady beetles and milkweed bugs, we can't promise. Hey, even monarch caterpillars will eat the eggs. But we do know this: only 5 percent of the eggs make it to adulthood. So, the odds aren't good. Oops, gotta go. 'Bye for now."
Bohart Museum Open House on Saturday, Nov. 4
Want to talk to a scientist about monarch butterflies? Then you'll want to attend the Bohart Museum of Entomology open house on Saturday, Nov. 4 from 1 to 4 p.m. in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane. Scientists will be there to answer your questions.
The event is free and family friendly and a great opportunity to learn more about Danaus plexippus.
The scientists will include:
- UC Davis distinguished professor emeritus Art Shapiro of the Department of Evolution and Ecology, who has studied butterfly populations in central California since 1972 and maintains a research website, Art's Butterfly World.
- UC Davis emeritus professor Hugh Dingle, a worldwide authority on animal migration, including monarchs. He is the author of Migration: The Biology of Life on the Move (Oxford University Press), a sequel to the first edition published in 1996. See news story on the UC Davis Entomology and Nematology website.
- UC Davis professor Louie Yang, who does research on monarchs. Due to parental duties, he may be able to attend only the last part of the open house. See news story about his work.
- UC Davis professor Elizabeth Crone of the Department of Evolution and Ecology, formerly of Tufts University, who researches monarchs. See news story about the declining monarch population on the UC Davis Entomology and Nematology website.
- UC Davis postdoctoral fellow Aramee Diethelm of the Elizabeth Crone lab. She holds a doctorate from the University of Nevada, Reno. Both her Ph.D. and postdoctoral work are on monarch butterflies.
The Bohart Museum houses a global collection of eight million insect specimens, plus a living insect petting zoo (Madagascar hissing cockroaches and stick insects, among others), and a insect-themed gift shop. UC Davis distinguished professor Lynn Kimsey has directed the Bohart Museum, founded in 1946, since 1990.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Then you'll want to attend the Bohart Museum of Entomology open house on Saturday, Nov. 4 from 1 to 4 p.m. in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane. Scientists will be there to answer your questions.
The event is free and family friendly and a great opportunity to learn more about Danaus plexippus.
The scientists will include:
- UC Davis distinguished professor emeritus Art Shapiro of the Department of Evolution and Ecology, who has studied butterfly populations in central California since 1972 and maintains a research website, Art's Butterfly World.
- UC Davis emeritus professor Hugh Dingle, a worldwide authority on animal migration, including monarchs. He is the author of Migration: The Biology of Life on the Move (Oxford University Press), a sequel to the first edition published in 1996. See news story on the UC Davis Entomology and Nematology website.
- UC Davis professor Louie Yang, who does research on monarchs. Due to parental duties, he may be able to attend only the last part of the open house. See news story about his work.
- UC Davis professor Elizabeth Crone of the Department of Evolution and Ecology, formerly of Tufts University, who researches monarchs. See news story about the declining monarch population on the UC Davis Entomology and Nematology website
Shapiro, a Lepidopterist, points out that the monarch "is NOT a focal species in my research and I am NOT a monarch expert. On the other hand, I have a unique breeding-season census data set starting in 1999. The only other census data are for the overwintering roosts on the coast. It has become apparent that the two data sets do not always agree." Shapiro said he'd talk briefly about this at the open house.
"The iconic black and orange monarch butterfly is known for its astonishing long-distance annual migration and reliance on milkweed as its obligate larval host plant," according to a post on the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW). "Though genetically similar, there are two subpopulations of monarchs in North America, with the eastern population overwintering in Mexico and breeding in the midwestern states, and the western population overwintering in coastal California and fanning out across the west from Arizona to Idaho. Outside the U.S., there are at least 74 known populations of resident, non-migratory monarchs that have established around the world in the past 200 years, all with origins in North America (Nial et al. 2019)."
"Both North American migratory populations have declined over the past twenty years due to a suite of interrelated factors including habitat loss in breeding and overwintering sites, habitat degradation, disease, pesticide exposure, and climate change," CDFW says. "Recently the western population has experienced dramatic swings, for a low of less than 2,000 in 2020-21 to over 200,000 in 2021-22 (Xerces Society Western Monarch Count). While it is unclear which of the many factors are driving these dynamics, insect population commonly fluctuate from year to year. The overall downward trend remains concerning, particularly if the threats are not ameliorated. Though more research is needed, a stable population for western monarchs is likely closer to the historic averages in the 1980's, which are estimated to have ranged between one to four million overwintering butterflies."
"n 2014, monarchs were petitioned to be listed under the federal Endangered Species Act. In December 2020, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service found that listing was warranted but precluded by other listing actions on its National Priority List. The monarch is currently slated to be listed in 2024."
The monarch population is in trouble. Says the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation in a post on its website: "In the 1990s, hundreds of millions of monarchs made the epic flight each fall from the northern plains of the U.S. and Canada to sites in the oyamel fir forests in central Mexico, and more than a million monarchs overwintered in forested groves on the California coast. Now, researchers and community scientists estimate that only a fraction of the population remains—a decline of approximately 70% has been seen in central Mexico and a decline of >90% has been seen in California."
Resources/Further Reading:
- Monarch Butterfly, California Department of Fish and Wildlife
- Research Permits, CDFW
- Western Monarch Mllkweed Mapper
- Integrated Monarch Monitoring Program, Monarch Joint Venture
- Western Monarch Count, Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation
- Monarch Butterfly Conservation, Xerces Society
- Spreading Milkweed, Not Myths, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
- Habitat Corridor Project, Views on milkweed
- Tropical Milkweed Doesn't Deserve the Bad Rap, Bug Squad blog, views on the ban of tropical milkweed by UC Davis emeriti professors Art Shapiro and Hugh Dingle, and Washington State University entomologist David James, who studies migratory monarchs.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The book was released in the UK on Oct. 3, 2023, and it will be released in the United States on Jan. 9, 2024.
RTÉ, or Raidió Teilifís Éireann, is an Irish public service broadcaster that produces and broadcasts programs on television, radio and online. Launched in January 1926 and headquartered in Donnybrook, Dublin, it is known as one of the world's oldest continuously operating public service broadcasters.
At the onset of the 11-minute interview, an RTÉ announcer noted that The Lives of Butterflies "showcases extraordinary diversity of world's butterflies, while exploring their life histories, behavior, conservation and other aspects of these most fascinating and beguiling insects."
Listen to the butterfly podcast here: https://www.rte.ie/radio/radio1/clips/22294525/
Éanna Ní Lamhna is a biologist, environmental consultant, radio and television presenter, author an educator. "She is one of the best-known public figures in Ireland in the area of nature and the environment, and was listed as one of Ireland's 'Influential 100' in 2012," according to Wikipedia. She is a mainstay on RTÉ's "Mooney Goes Wild." Lamhna holds a doctorate in botany from UCD--no, not the University of California, Davis, but University College Dublin.
WSU biosketch: "David James developed a passion for entomology at the age of 8 in England by rearing caterpillars in his bedroom. He studied zoology at the University of Salford near Manchester, then migrated to Australia to work for the New South Wales Department of Agriculture on ways of controlling agricultural pests like locusts and mites. A PhD on the winter biology of monarch butterflies in Sydney followed and a career as a biocontrol scientist in horticulture blossomed." (See more here). He studies the migration of Pacific Northwest monarchs to the overwintering sites along coastal California.
What Did They Discuss?
- What exactly is a butterfly and how is it different from a moth?
- Are there more moths in the world than butterflies?
- How do butterflies hear?
- What's the largest butterfly in the world?
- What sets butterflies apart from other insects?
- What kind of digestive system do butterflies have?
- Why do some butterflies land on your arm and drink your sweat?
- Why do male butterflies feed on crocodile tears?
- Why did British scientist Miriam Rothschild call male monarchs "male chauvinist pigs?"
- How do you tag monarchs and what have we learned?
It's an excellent podcast--and you'll love listening to the lilting Irish accent of Éanna Ní Lamhna, coupled with the distinguishable English/Australian accent of David James.
And the answers to the above questions...
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
They are a beautiful sight.
Hopefully, tagged migratory monarchs from the research project of entomologist David James of Washington State University, will pass through--as they do every year from the Pacific Northwest--on their way to their coastal California overwintering sites. They are tagged on a discal cell.
Meanwhile, scientists in the Northeast are tagging monarchs (heading for Mexico) in a different way. They're attaching "small, lightweight tracking devices to nearly 50 strong and healthy butterflies," according to the New Hampshire Public Radio, in a piece published Sept. 12. "Towers can then ping their location when the small creatures are nearby."
The article related that "Scientists across the country are studying their migration patterns through a project funded by the federal government. This is the second full year that the New Hampshire Audubon Center is participating in a monarch tracking program."
The article by Olivia Richardson quotes Diane De Luca who works at the center: “The thought behind tagging monarchs here in the Northeast is to get a better sense of what they actually do when they're first starting their migration."
The tracking devices are lightweight, but the scientists seek out "strong, younger butterflies" without tattered wings. (See more on the website)
One tracked butterfly flew 60 miles in one day.
"De Luca said last year a butterfly they tagged traveled to Massachusetts and stopped at Lynnfield Marsh, one of the state's largest freshwater marshes," Richardson wrote. "De Luca said purple loosestrife, a type of flower considered an invasive species, is abundant at the marsh and it's attractive to monarch butterflies, who feed off of it."
Aren't monarchs fascinating?
Ping! There goes another butterfly!
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Sunday, Aug. 27: Praying Mantises
Saturday, Sept. 23: Household Vampires
Saturday, Nov. 4: Monarchs
The open houses, free and family friendly, take place from 1 to 4 p.m. in the insect museum, located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane, UC Davis campus. Parking is free.
At each event, the focus is on the special theme, and there's also a family arts-and-crafts activity. You can see insect displays and hold the Madagascar hissing cockroaches and stick insects from the live petting zoo.
The museum, founded in 1946, is directed by UC Davis distinguished professor Lynn Kimsey. It houses a global collection of eight million insect specimens. In addition to the petting zoo, it houses a year-around, insect-themed gift shop.
Meanwhile, how many praying mantises (or praying mantids) have you seen this year? Or in past years?
What were they eating?
This mantis is a Stagmomantis limbata, as identified by Lohit Garikipati, a UC Davis alumnus studying for his master's degree at Towson University, Md.
It nailed a cabbage white butterfly, Pieris rapae. As a caterpillar, P. rapae is a major pest of cole crops such as cabbage.
This time the menu did not include "bee."