Posts Tagged: overwintering

A Halloween Surprise: A Migratory Monarch

It's beginning to look a lot like...Halloween. If you haven't noticed, stores are gearing up for Halloween with assorted ghosts, goblins and ghouls for you.  We remember Halloween 2023 when a female migratory monarch fluttered into our pollinator...

A migrating monarch butterfly stops on Halloween, Oct. 31 to sip nectar from a milkweed in a Vacaville garden. She was on her way to an overwintering site in coastal California. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A migrating monarch butterfly stops on Halloween, Oct. 31 to sip nectar from a milkweed in a Vacaville garden. She was on her way to an overwintering site in coastal California. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The female monarch spreads her wings. She stopped in Vacaville on Halloween 2023 for some flight fuel while on her way to an overwintering site in coastal California. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The female monarch spreads her wings. She stopped in Vacaville on Halloween 2023 for some flight fuel while on her way to an overwintering site in coastal California. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Western Monarchs: 'A Great Breeding Season in 2022'

Ready for some good news about our iconic monarch butterflies? The Western monarch population at overwintering sites in California indicates a 2022 "great breeding season," says Washington State University entomologist David James, who researches...

Overwintering monarchs in Cambria, San Luis Obispo County. This site does not appear on the official list of California's overwintering sites, says WSU entomologist David James. It was home in November to 15,000 butterflies. (Photo by David James, Washington State University entomologist)

Overwintering monarchs in Cambria, San Luis Obispo County. This site does not appear on the official list of California's overwintering sites, says WSU entomologist David James. It was home in November to 15,000 butterflies. (Photo by David James, Washington State University entomologist)

A cluster of monarchs at an overwintering site in Bolinas, Calif. (Photo by David James, Washington State University entomologist)

A cluster of monarchs at an overwintering site in Bolinas, Calif. (Photo by David James, Washington State University entomologist)

Monarchs clustering at an overwintering site in Pismo Beach, San Luis Obispo County. (Photo by David James, Washington State University entomologist)

Monarchs clustering at an overwintering site in Pismo Beach, San Luis Obispo County. (Photo by David James, Washington State University entomologist)

Guess Who's Back?

"Guess who's back?" butterfly guru Art Shapiro, UC Davis distinguished professor of evolution and ecology, asked in his "posse" email today. "Guess, who's back?" has nothing to do with the catchphrases uttered by Arnold Schwarzenegger and ...

Monarchs overwintering in the Natural Bridges State Park, Santa Cruz, in 2016. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Monarchs overwintering in the Natural Bridges State Park, Santa Cruz, in 2016. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

How Little We Know About Monarchs...

How little we know about monarch butterflies, Danaus plexippus... And how long misinformation can linger... Take the news about the overwintering 250,000 monarchs recorded along the California coast in the Western Monarch Thanksgiving...

Monarchs overwintering in the Natural Bridges State Park, Santa Cruz, in 2016. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Monarchs overwintering in the Natural Bridges State Park, Santa Cruz, in 2016. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Overwintering Milkweed Bugs on the Prowl

Have you seen any overwintering milkweed bugs lately? About a dozen milkweed bugs, Oncopeltus fasciatus, emerged from seclusion Jan. 2, 2022 in our Vacaville garden. The temperature hovered at 32 degrees that morning, but when the...

Two's company, three's a crowd? Milkweed bugs on a cactus on Jan. 2, 2022 in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Two's company, three's a crowd? Milkweed bugs on a cactus on Jan. 2, 2022 in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A colorful milkweed bug, Oncopeltus fasciatus, sunning itself on a succulent on Jan. 2, 2022 in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A colorful milkweed bug, Oncopeltus fasciatus, sunning itself on a succulent on Jan. 2, 2022 in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Warmth of the January sun and these milkweed bugs are getting all of it. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Warmth of the January sun and these milkweed bugs are getting all of it. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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