Posts Tagged: migratory Monarchs
A Look Back at 2016: Monarch Butterflies Reigned
What a marvelous year! Looking back at 2016, monarch butterflies reigned supreme--or at least they...
This tagged butterfly, part of WSU entomologist David James' migratory research project, flew from Ashland, Ore. on Aug. 28 to Vacaville, Calif. on Sept. 5, or a distance of 285 miles in seven days, or about 40.7 miles a day. It was reared and tagged by Steve Johnson of Ashland and was on its way to an overwintering site along coastal California. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A monarch butterfly laying an egg. Monarchs lay their eggs on the underside of milkweed leaves, their host plant. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A tiny monarch egg. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A monarch caterpillar munching away on showy milkweed, Asclepias speciosa. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The jade-green chrysalids, rimmed in gold, look like precious jewels. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A newly eclosed monarch. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Its wings dried, a newly eclosed monarch is ready for release. This one decided to linger. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Monarch nectaring on milkweed blossoms. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A male monarch spreads its wings on Mexican sunflower (Tithonia). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Monarchs Lovin' the Lantana, One Sip at a Time
What amazing journeys! For the last two months, migratory monarch butterflies have regularly...
A monarch nectaring on Lantana on Oct. 23 in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A monarch takes flight after fueling up Oct. 23 in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The same monarch taking flight again over Lantana on Oct. 23 in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Coming in on a Wing and a Prayer
You've heard the expression, "On a wing and a prayer." It apparently originated during World War...
A tattered monarch makes a refueling stop on a Tithonia in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Wings are shredded and scales slashed, but this male monarch still flies. Here it pauses to soak up some sunshine. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A predator missed--but a miss is as good as a mile. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A migratory monarch, after sipping some flight fuel in Vacaville, Calif. takes off "on a wing and a prayer," heading for an overwintering site along the coast. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The Monarch and the Mantis
If you're rearing monarchs or offering them a “way station” of nectar-producing flowers...
A gravid praying mantis, her abdomen bloated, grabs a migrating monarch nectaring on a butterfly bush. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The praying mantis, perfectly camouflaged, resembles a leaf. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A spiked foreleg circles the monarch's thorax. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The spiked foreleg pierces a wing. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)