- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
And they did.
But this event wasn't "winged"; it was well planned and rooted in educational information.
Wings? A reference to the flutter of the ever decreasing butterfly wings. The occasion? The inaugural "Wing It" Butterfly Summit, held last Saturday, March 25 at Annie's Annuals and Perennials in Richmond.
A panel of butterfly experts fielded questions focused on "What can we do to help the declining monarch population, as well as other struggling butterfly populations?" Among the speakers were Mia Monroe of the Xerces Society of Invertebrate Conservation, Tora Rocha of the Pollinator Posse and Suzanne Clark of the UC Master Gardeners, Sonoma County.
The speakers advocated that we garden for butterflies by planting their host plants (where adult butterflies lay their eggs and where the offspring subsist) and by planting nectar plants (food source of adult butterflies). Other points: We must preserve their habitats; help establish food-embellished migratory corridors for monarchs heading to overwintering sites; avoid the use of pesticides; and support research.
The Pollinator Posse, geared toward protecting pollinators and creating habitat, also urged that we all get involved in conservation efforts, including rearing monarchs--bringing in the eggs and caterpillars from the outdoors to protect them from predators. Many "Monarch Moms" and "Monarch Dads" use zippered meshed containers, keeping the offspring safe from tachinid flies and wasps that lay their eggs in caterpillars and chrysalids.
Facilitator Mia Monroe, volunteer with the Xerces Society, coordinator of the Western Monarch Thanksgiving Count, and Muir Woods Park Ranger, pointed out the alarming monarch statistics:
In less than 20 years, the number of monarchs at overwintering sites in California has declined by 74 percent, a figure comparable to what's happening to the overwintering population in Mexico.
Among the other speakers:
- Amber Hasselbring, executive director of San Francisco's Nature in the City, who is establishing Green Hairstreak corridors in San Francisco neighborhoods.
- Andy Liu, landscape architect and garden designer specializing in butterfly habitat
- Sal Levinson, author, entomologist and noted speaker on butterfly habitats. She authored Butterfly Papercrafts Butterfly Papercrafts: 21 Indoor Projects for Outdoor Learning, a book geared for youngsters ages 5-12 and described as a key educational resource for teachers.
- Suzanne Clarke, UC Master Gardener from Sonoma County, who urged the participants to plant milkweed for monarchs: “Milkweed: If you plant it, they will come.” She sported a yellow t-shirt lettered with just that and a monarch image.
- Tim Wong, aquatic biologist at the California Academy of Science, and Barbara Deutsch who are involved in repopulating pipevine swallowtails in the San Francisco area
The summit drew some 250 to 300 people, who listened to the talks, visited the educational booths, learned about the metamorphosis from egg to caterpillar to chrysalis to adult, and what to plant to attract butterflies. Vendors offered books, posters, T-shirts, plants and butterfly habitats.
- Aesculus californica (California buckeye): Host plant of Echo Spring Azure butterfly
- Angelica tomentosa (woolly angelica) and A. archangelica: Anise Swallowtail
- Anisodontea sp. 'Strybing Beauty" (cape mallow): Vanessids, such as Vanessa atalanta, the Red Admiral
- Antirrhinums (snapdragons): Common Buckeye
- Asclepias (milkweed): Monarchs
- Asters: Field Cresentspot
- Ceanothus (all species): California Tortoiseshell, Echo Spring Azure, Gray Hairstreak
- Daucus carota (wild carrot, Queen Anne's lace): Anise Swallowtail
- Eriogonums (California buckwheat): Gray Hairstreak, Acmon Blue
- Foeniculum vulgare (fennel): Anise Swallowtail
- Grasses (California native Boutelouas, Festucas, Melicas, Muhlenbergias, Nassellas): Skippers
- Hollyhocks: Painted Lady, West Coast Lady, Common Checkered Skipper, Gray Hairstreak
- Keckiellas: Checkerspots, Common Buckeye
- Lathyrus (perennial natives, such as sweet pea): Silvery Blues
- Lavatera assurgentiflora (malvia): West Coast Lady
- Lippia repens (mat grass): Common Buckeye
- Lotus crassifolus variety otayensis (also known as Otay Mountain lotus): Acmon Blue
- Lupines (native perennial lupines like albifrons, arboreus, latifolius parishii, polyphyllus, propinquus, sericatus); Acmon Blue, some hairstreaks
- Mimulus aurantiacus (sticky monkey flower): Checkerspots, Common Buckeye
- Nasturtiums: Cabbage White
- Passiflora caerulea and some others (avoid bright red varies as they may be toxic): Gulf Fritillaries
- Penstemons: Checkerspots, Common Buckeye
- Sidalceas (checkered mallow): Painted Lady, West Coast Lady, Common Checkered Skipper, Gray Hairsteak
- Sphaeralceas (mallow): Gray Hairstreak, Painted Lady, West Coast Lady, Common Checkered Skipper
Good Bay Area nectar plants for butterflies, according to the Butterfly Summit, include California buckeye, brodiaecas (cluster lilies), milkweed, asters, butterfly bush (Buddlejas), cosmos, coreopsis, echiums, blanketflower (Gaillardia), dahlias, mint, rosemary, lavenders, marigolds, rosemary, phacelias, sunflowers, Mexican sunflower (Tithonia rotundifolia), Salvia clevelandii, Gilia capitata, Suromgas (lilac), verbenas, and zinnias.
Monarchs are especially fond of these nectar sources: butterfly bush (Buddleja), Mexican sunflower (Tithonia), asters, Echiums (Echium fastuosum or Pride of Madeira), and verbenas.
The National Wildlife Federation (NWF) says that "providing milkweeds and other nectar-rich flowers that bloom where and when monarchs need them is one of the most significant actions you can take to support monarch butterfly populations."--Monarch Nectar Plants, Inland California.
NWF also urges everyone to plant natives: "Although monarchs use a variety of nectar plant species, including exotic invasives such as ice plant and cape ivy, we recommend planting native species. Native plants are often more beneficial to ecoystems, are adapted to local soils and climates, and help promote biological diversity. They can also be easier to maintain in the landscape, once established."
Xerces Society offers a wealth of information on its website on monarchs and milkweed.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Have you ever seen a monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) lay an egg on her host plant, the milkweed?
Have you ever seen a close-up of the egg? The larva or caterpillar? The chrysalis? The eclosure (when the adult emerges from the chrysalis)?
It's a fascinating sight.
Not all eggs will make it. Predators, such as lady beetles and their larvae, gobble up monarch eggs along with those tasty aphids. Birds, such as scrub jays, swoop down and make off with an occasional caterpillar. Then when the fifth instar finally starts to form a chrysalis, there's always the question of whether it will do so. Some are deformed and turn out to be half chrysalis and half caterpillar.
But once you've watched a complete metamorphosis, you'll never underappreciate monarchs again. In fact, you'll probably start rearing them every year. We just reared our first two this month.
It's easy to see why teachers and their students get so excited. We remember writing about Sal (Sally) Levinson's newly published book, Butterfly Papercrafts, which contains 21 indoor projects for outdoor learning. Levinson, who studied entomology at the graduate level at UC Riverside and UC Berkeley, wants to inspire youngsters to learn about our amazing world of butterflies through art and a little science.
It's intended for youngsters ages 5-12, but really, it's also a beginner's book for all ages and a teacher's treasure. And it's priced right--under $10 ($9.99). Readers can learn about the life cycle, from egg to caterpillar to chrysalis to adult; and craft a butterfly paper airplane, a caterpillar flip book, and a monarch finger puppet.
Meanwhile, North America's monarchs are heading for their overwintering sites in two main areas: the mountains of central Mexico, and choice spots along the California coast, including Pacific Grove and Santa Cruz.
"The annual migration of North America's monarch butterfly is a unique and amazing phenomenon," according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Forest Service website. "The monarch is the only butterfly known to make a two-way migration as birds do. Unlike other butterflies that can overwinter as larvae, pupae, or even as adults in some species, monarchs cannot survive the cold winters of northern climates. Using environmental cues, the monarchs know when it is time to travel south for the winter. Monarchs use a combination of air currents and thermals to travel long distances. Some fly as far as 3,000 miles to reach their winter home."
You'll see a migration map on the Forest Service website. You can check out the monarch sightings on this map and report the ones you see.
Go, monarchs!
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
So writes Sal (Sally) Levinson in her newly published book, Butterfly Papercrafts, which contains 21 indoor projects for outdoor learning.
Ah, the joys of discovery! If you're looking for something educational, rewarding, timely and artsy-crafty for your kids--and your neighbors' kids--how about teaching them about butterflies?
And just in time for National Pollinator Week, June 15-21.
Sal who studied entomology at the graduate level at UC Riverside and UC Berkeley, wants to inspire youngsters to learn about our amazing world of butterflies through art and a little science. Each of the 21 papercrafts contains a lesson about butterflies.
Butterfly Papercrafts is intended for youngsters ages 5-12, but really, it's also a beginner's book for all ages and a teacher's treasure. And it's priced under $10 ($9.99).
Readers can learn about the life cycle, from egg to caterpillar to chrysalis to adult; and craft a butterfly paper airplane, a caterpillar flip book and a monarch finger puppet. In addition, there's also fascinating information about nectar, pollination, monarch migration, and "puddle parties" (who wouldn't want a puddle party?). She'll tell you exactly what a puddle party is and describe the behavior.
Sal has worked with insects from the fields of central California, to the forests of Connecticut and Idaho, to the labs of Berkeley. A butterfly educator for the past two decades, she maintains her own butterfly garden and provides specimens for adult and children's classes, teacher training sessions, and garden fairs. She also writes a blog.
Sal and her brother, Bill Levinson, completed two films, In the Company of Wild Butterflies, and The Secret Lives of Monarchs.
Sal lives in Berkeley with her husband and, of course, “my insects.” Her daughter, Berkeley resident Danielle Levinson, who illustrated the book, holds a degree in design from UC Davis. Now a software engineer for Google, Danielle remembers growing up with caterpillar terrariums on the kitchen table.
And the monarch finger puppet? It's a puppet that appears to have four legs. Sal explains that all insects have six legs, but the monarch, "like all brush-footed butterflies, has two legs that are tiny."
"Once the finger puppet is complete, you can use it to mimic butterfly behavior," Sal writes. "For instance, you can take it on a long flight, pretending that it is migrating to Mexico or the coast of California for the winter. Your puppet can bask in the sun to warm up, look for a mate, nectar at flowers, and lay eggs on leaves. At night, it can roost in a protected place. What other butterfly behaviors can your puppet mimic?
And the monarch migration chapter? Readers can color trees, the monarchs, and the background. The end result: pop-up art.
"Monarchs migrate south in the fall and spend the winter in trees along the California coast and in Mexico," Sal writes. "In the spring, they fly north and reproduce." For further reading, she recommends the book, Monarchs by Kathryn Lasky and the film, On the Wings of the Monarch.
Caution: Those delving into this papercraft book will (1) become more curious about insects (2) spend a humongous quantity of time outdoors looking for them (3) plant a butterfly garden and (4) rear butterflies.
Or become a lepitopterist or artist. Or both.
