- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Apparently so, from personal observation.
Over the years, we've grown multiple species of milkweed in our pollinator garden in Vacaville, Calif. We give them a choice. The species include:
- Narrow-leafed milkweed, Asclepias fascicularis
- Showy milkweed, A. speciosa
- Pleurisy root, A. tuberosa
- Tropical milkweed, A. curassavica
- Hairy balls or balloonplant, Gomphocarpus physocarpus
Which species do they prefer? Tropical milkweed, hands down. But it's a plant that's become highly controversial in California. Friends unfriend friends, and the unfriended lash out with how "bad" tropical milkweed is and how "uneducated" the messenger is. "Don't you know about Ophryocystis elektroscirrha (OE)?" they ask. "How dare you plant tropical milkweed? Yank it out!"
Meanwhile, the monarchs keep monarching. And we keep observing them.
Consider the male monarch spotted lying in the middle of a residential street in west Vacaville the morning of Jan. 3. It was there despite the rain, the cold and the passing cars. What will happen to it? Will it find a mate? Will its mate be able to find a milkweed to deposit her eggs? She certainly won't find native milkweed, such as A. fascicularis and A. speciosa, but she might find A. curassavica.
If. She. Is. Lucky.
Mona Miller, administrator of the educational Facebook page, Creating Habitat for Butterflies, Moths and Pollinators, recently shared a post that should be "food for thought" (for us) and that should result in "more food" (milkweed) for the monarchs. Her Facebook page focuses on "the preservation and protection of North American butterflies, moths and pollinators, particularly the Monarch butterfly."
"All milkweeds get Ophryocystis elektroscirrha (OE)," Miller wrote. "There are native milkweeds that are viable in the fall and winter. Tropical milkweed, due to their high level of toxins (cardenolides), are very medicinal. Monarch females choose tropical milkweeds over less toxic native plants to self-medicate. In October 2022, there was a discussion on the Monarch Watch email list. Dr. (Orley "Chip") Taylor (founder and director of Monarch Watch and a professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Kansas) said that tropical milkweed does not stop the migration. He said more native and tropical milkweed should be planted. He said the more milkweed that is available the less spores will be left on all milkweeds. Fewer milkweeds leave monarchs visiting available milkweeds and leaving more spores. You can read the discussion here, there are several posts: https://lists.ku.edu/pip.../dplex-l/2022-October/012192.html."
"Actually, the best strategy is to plant more milkweeds, both native and tropical," Professor Taylor wrote, explaining that "First, the interactions between monarchs, milkweed and O.E. are frequency and density dependent. What this means is that spore loads on foliage are dependent on the abundance of milkweed relative to the number of ovipositing females. The O.E. infection rate is a function of this dynamic. Second, because of these relationships, O.E. cycles. That is, it increases and then declines only to increase again. There is a seasonal pattern to these cycles with low rates in the spring and higher rates about 3-4 generations. Third, the interactions that contribute to cycling involve spatial relationships that include distances between resources (milkweed patches) and the search capabilities of the butterflies. There is a time component as well."
"Here is the scenario that could play out from San Diego to Ventura counties and parts of Marin as well," Taylor wrote. "Due to warmer conditions more and more native milkweeds (mostly fascicularis) remain green during the winter. This appears to be happening over a broad area. With the sale of tropical milkweed (hereafter TM) being prohibited and homeowners being discouraged from growing TM, what is the likely outcome? With fewer milkweeds overall, the O.E. spore count will go up on both native and TM. OE will become more common rather than less. Further, the reduced distribution of milkweeds will reduce the opportunity for O.E. to cycle. Cycling depends on part of the milkweed distribution being relatively free of spores for the monarch population to recover. Overall, there will be fewer butterflies surviving the winter and therefore a lower starting population in the spring. If that happens, there will be fewer monarchs through the entire season. So, instead of leading to lower O.E. and more butterflies, the elimination of TM is likely to reduce the monarch population--in effect taking the butterflies away from the people. Again, in addition to cutting back TM from time to time to reduce O.E., an alternative solution is to grow TM and to see that it is hyper-dispersed in gardens, etc. through the 5-county area. The same strategy would involve A. fascicularis and other native milkweeds."
"Some of the reaction to TM is simply based on the notion that it is non-native," Taylor wrote. "We can agree on that point. However, it does not naturalize and therefore is not invasive. Our gardens are filled with such plants. TM supports populations of monarchs as far south as Peru and in most, if not all, places where monarchs have been introduced. Also, since this species flowers nearly continuously through the growing season, it is a source of nectar for a large number of pollinating species. TM supports monarchs--full stop! Let's learn to live with it. More milkweeds equal more monarchs and less O.E. overall."
Taylor went on to say that TM does not cause monarchs to break diapause and become reproductive. "Dingle suggests that it is temperature that causes monarchs to break diapause and that is exactly what I have been saying for years. Hormone production is a function of temperature--head temperatures--and not contact with plants. The major driver in the West has been and will continue to be weather/climate. It starts with the conditions that determine the size and distribution of the overwintering female numbers and their reproductive success."
However, the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), influenced by conservation groups, has categorized A. curassavica as "a noxious weed," and county agricultural commissioners have banned the sale of the plant in nurseries in Marin, Contra Costa, San Mateo and Ventura counties.
Professor Dingle bears to differ. "No one should rush out and pull out their tropical milkweed as it would be a waste of time and effort," he says. "Nurseries should also be able to continue to sell it." He points out:
- "There is not enough tropical milkweed planted to have much influence (see the amount of A. syriaca and A. fascicularis throughout the American west not to mention various other species like A. erosa, cordifolia, californica, etc.) Yes, there are parasites on A. curassavica as there are on ALL milkweeds."
- "There are populations of monarchs that are doing just fine feeding exclusively on A. curassavica (e.g. on many Pacific Islands, such as Guam where I have studied them.
- "Migration and the diapause that accompanies it in the fall are determined by shortening photoperiod and temperature (warm temps can override short days hence the issue with climate change). There is no significant influence of food plant."
UC Davis distinguished professor Art Shapiro, who has monitored butterfly populations in central California since 1972, says the "anti-curassavica propaganda is total hogwash. I have been saying so for years."
Curious, isn't it, that a plant can be so controversial? Four states, California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, border Mexico. On the California side, inches away from the Mexican border, tropical milkweed is considered a "noxious weed" per the CDFA definition. On the other side, in Mexico, it's simply a great host plant for monarchs.
What does 2023 hold for the iconic monarch and its host plants? For one thing, more scientific research is needed.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
And from UC Davis to France...
Seminar coordinator Emily Meineke, urban landscape entomologist and assistant professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, has announced the list of the department's 10 winter seminars, which begin Jan. 11 and continue through March 15.
Eight of the 10 seminars are both in-person and virtual, while two will be virtual only. The in-person seminars will take place from 4:10 to 5 p.m. (Pacific Time) on Wednesdays in Room 122 of Briggs Hall, located off Kleiber Drive. All seminars will live-streamed on Zoom and recorded for future viewing. The Zoom link: https://ucdavis.zoom.us/j/95882849672.
Wednesday, Jan. 11--Virtual Only
Clément Vinauger, Ph.D.
Assistant professor
Virginia Tech Department of Biochemistry
Title: (Title pending: He researches molecular genetics of host-seeking behavior in insects)
Wednesday, Jan. 18
Quinn McFredrick, Ph.D.
Assistant professor
UC Riverside Department of Entomology
Title: "The Weird World of Pathogens, Microbes, and Meat-Eating Bees"
Wednesday, Jan. 25
Lisa Chamberland, Ph.D.
Post-doctoral fellow, Jason Bond Lab
UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
Title: Pending
Wednesday, Feb. 1
Chris Fettig, Ph.D.
Research entomologist
U. S. Forest Service
Title: "Bark Beetles: How Tiny Insects Are Transforming Western Forests with a Little Help from Climate Change'
Wednesday, Feb. 8
Lauren Ponisio, Ph.D.
Assistant professor
University of Oregon Department of Biology
Title: (Title pending: Her research involves untangling the complexity of community ecology, wild bee conservation and data science)
Wednesday, Feb. 15
Christine Tabuloc, doctoral candidate
Molecular geneticist, Joanna Chiu lab
UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
Title: (Title pending; this is her exit seminar)
Wednesday, Feb. 22
Kyle Lewald, doctoral candidate
Molecular geneticist, Joanna Chiu lab
UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
Title: "Using Genomic Data to Understand and Prevent the Spread of Tuta absoluta" (exit seminar)
Wednesday, March 1
Dana Nayduch, Ph.D.
Research entomologist
USDA-ARS Center for Grain and Animal Health Research
Title: (Pending)
Wednesday, March 8
Amy Worthington, Ph.D.
Assistant professor
Creighton University Department of Biology
Title: "A Host of Hardships: The Costs of Harboring a Long-Lived Parasite"
Wednesday, March 15 -- Virtual Only
Sylvain Pincebourde, Ph.D.
Researcher
University of Tours, Insect Biology Research Institute
Title: "The Key Role of Microclimates in Modulating the Response of Ectotherms to Climate Change"
The Department of Entomology and Nematology, ranked among the top entomology departments in the United States, is chaired by nematologist and professor Steve Nadler. Vice chair is molecular geneticist and physiologist Joanna Chiu.
For further information on the seminars or technical difficulties with Zoom, contact Meineke at ekmeineke@ucdavis.edu.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
It looked newly emerged but it wasn't moving.
In fact, it looked quite dead.
A gloved hand quickly rescued the monarch, a male, from passing traffic.
A monarch in January? Here in Vacaville after heavy rain and flooding and more on the way? "A third atmospheric river storm," National Public Radio (NPR) announced Jan. 2, "is set to add to misery in California's flooded areas. Forecasters in Northern California have a sobering new-year message for people who are reeling from floods and mudslides: the situation could get worse before it gets better."
"Much like the end of 2022 storm, this will be a strong wind event along with moderate to heavy rainfall," according to the National Weather Service.
Rain, floods, and recent freezing temperatures....
So how incredible to find a monarch here in January, while its "clan" is clustering in overwintering spots along the California coast. (They won't be heading inward until around February.)
"How long has it been seen you saw Monarchs flying in your area?" asked Mona Miller, who administers the popular Facebook page, Creating Habitat For Butterflies, Moths, & Pollinators. "Another option is that if it found a microclimate, which protected its cycle it has been slowly finishing its cycle. With climate change and fluctuating temperatures, I have been seeing late Monarchs surviving several frosts. Once they make it to adults, fall to winter Monarchs become more cold tolerant. This cold tolerance is rapid and protects them from fluctuating temperatures caused by climate change."
The last monarch I saw flying in Vacaville was on Oct. 26, 2022. It was a male that stopped to nectar on our Mexican sunflower (Tithonia rotundifola). The blooms are long gone. We're in the dead of winter.
But there's hope.
"The ongoing wild windy wet weather in California is the wild card that interferes with predictions about the summer population in 2023," James commented. "Wild late winter storms are likely what caused the substantial reduction (from ~ 200,000 to 30,000) in western monarch numbers back in 2018/19. These lower numbers then led to the ultra-low number in 2020 of 1899 overwintering butterflies. Then of course we rebounded to more than 247,000 in 2021 and likely more than 300,000 for Nov 2022."
"The question now," James said, "is will the current storms and any others that occur during January-February, savagely dent the population as the 2018 storms did? If the overwintering population can survive the storms without major losses, then I think we will see a good-sized summer population in California and the Pacific Northwest in 2023." He administers the Facebook page, Monarch Butterflies in the Pacific Northwest.
It's sponsored by the Western Monarch Advocates (WMA) and is open to all interested persons--from scientists to citizen scientists to monarch aficionados. It will include networking, field trips, and meals.
James, a WMA board member, will be among the keynote speakers from four countries. The event is billed as "an exchange of ideas from across the Western States, Tribal Lands, Mexico, Canada and Australia-all with an interest in our western monarch population! Expand your knowledge and make connections with other Monarch enthusiasts, researchers, and conservation organizations."
As they point out, "our migrating Western Monarch butterflies do not stop at state or international borders; nor should our efforts to restore them."
And, apparently, the Vacaville monarch lying cold and still on a residential street on Jan. 3 didn't let the rain, the storm and the floods--or passing cars--stop him from surviving. He also avoided the hungry birds seeking a fast-food meal (birds learn quickly that monarchs "don't taste good").
He's alive.
Monarchs continue to inspire and surprise us.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
So Joe Nazarius of Winters embarked on a Dec. 30th hike in the Knoxville Road area, west of Lake Berryessa, when the unexpected happened.
"What is this bug buried in Joe's skin?"
That's what his wife, Debra LoGuercio DeAngelo, messaged me. She attached a photo.
Before I could read and respond, a trip to a nearby hospital's urgent care center confirmed its identity: a tick.
Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology at the University of California, Davis, and a UC Davis distinguished professor of entomology, further identified it as a "black-legged tick nymph (Ixodes pacificus). He should pull it out immediately as their saliva is pretty potent."
Yes and yes.
"It's definitely tick season," Professor Kimsey added. "Black-legged ticks are really winter-early spring ticks, followed by the common dog tick, which is the late spring-summer tick.”
Kimsey, who fields scores of questions about ticks, wrote a fact sheet on ticks (see below), posted on the Bohart Museum website:
"The tick mouthparts are called the hypostome, which has many backward directed projections. The projections prevent easy removal of the attached tick. Most hard ticks also secrete a cement-like substance from the salivary glands that literally glues the feeding tick in place. The substance dissolves after feeding is complete. When a tick is removed, this is the material left behind, not the 'head.'
"Many ticks seek hosts by 'questing.' Questing ticks crawl up the stems of grass or perch on the edges of leaves in a typical posture with the front legs extended. Certain chemicals, such as CO2, as well as heat and movement cause questing behavior. Ticks climb onto a potential host that brushes against their extended front legs. Once on a host, hard ticks may feed for several days to several weeks."
Kimsey also covered ticks in her lead article, "California Ticks, Myths and Disease," of the winter 2018 Bohart Museum Society newsletter (see entire article at the end of this blog):
"Although we're still a few months away from spring this seems like a good time to write about ticks, since at least one species, the western deer tick will be active soon. There are nine commonly encountered species of tick found in California, classified in two different groups, the soft ticks, family Argasidae, and the hard ticks, family Ixodidae.
"Ticks generally go through four stages, egg, larva, nymph and adult. After the larva hatches from the egg, each successive stage requires a blood meal to develop to the next stage. The transition from one stage to the next, except for the egg to larva transition, requires a blood meal. Soft ticks may have two or more nymphal stages, each requiring a blood meal. As a result it may take up to 3 years to complete their life cycle. Larval ticks differ from nymphs and adults because they only have six legs while the other stages have eight.
"Tick bites can range from annoying to downright painful. When a tick attaches itself to a host, the first thing it does is insert its mouthparts into the skin. The tick then secretes saliva that anchors them in the skin and causes tissues in the vicinity to leak, and this plug is what's actually left behind when a tick is removed, not the head. The tick saliva causes the adjacent skin cells and lymphatic fluid to leak into the bite wound. When hard ticks feed it takes several days before blood begins leaking into the vicinity of the tick's mouthparts. Only then can transmission of blood borne pathogens like the ones that cause Lyme disease take place."
But back to "The Tick" that interrupted an end-of-the-year hike.
Most people might not pull out their cell phone to grab an image of a tick, but Debra LoGuercio DeAngelo is a journalist. She's a former editor of the Winters Express newspaper and author of two newly published books (The Elements of Horse Spirit: the Magical Bond Between Humans and Horses and Pagan Curious: A Beginner's Guide to Nature, Magic & Spirituality and a third one is pending publication in August, Sacred Massage--The Magic & Ritual of Soothing Touch)
With a click, Debra captured an extremely sharp image of "The Tick" that ticked them off.
No, her pending book on "soothing touch" has nothing to do with arachnids questing near Lake Berryessa and feasting on an unsuspecting hiker...but this talented writer may also have a future in tick photography...
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
As the predominantly red-and-green holiday season draws to a close, and the year crawls to an end, it's time to "bee in the pink."
Pink?
Yes, "in the pink."
Skip the red. Ignore the green. Think "in the pink."
"In the pink" means to be in top form, in peak condition, in the best of health, and that's a good resolution for the New Year. (Not to mention every day of every year.)
And, if you keep bees, let's hope your bees will be "in the pink," too. Want to learn to about beekeeping? Contact the UC Davis-based California Master Beekeeper Program.
Happy New Year!