The estimated number of monarch butterflies migrating to Mexico for winter has reached its second-lowest level ever for the 2023 to 2024 overwintering season. The estimate, based on the size of the butterflies’ hibernating forest area, has dropped by about 59% from the previous year, according to officials. Experts are pointing to extensive heat and […]
By Liz Kimbrough The side of the road isn’t usually thought of as ideal habitat. But for insects, such as butterflies and their caterpillars, the long expanses of land along roads and utility corridors add up to a considerable amount of home turf. More than 45 transportation and energy companies, as well as dozens of […]
By Courtney Lindwall If you’re one of those people cooped up safely at home, with creative energy and free time to spare—count yourself lucky. Here, we’ve rounded up a list of two dozen environmental projects that can make your time indoors, or right outside, a little brighter. Whether you’re ready to start rescuing more of […]
Both Eastern and Western monarch butterflies are seeing their populations plummet precipitously, worrying scientists that the future of the species is in peril, according to multiple surveys of butterfly populations. The New York Times recently reported on efforts to track the Western monarch butterfly, which spends its winter on California’s central coast before heading off […]
The yearly count of monarch butterflies overwintering in Mexico, released Wednesday, shows an increase of 144 percent from last year’s count and is the highest count since 2006. That’s good news for a species whose numbers had fallen in recent years, but conservationists say the monarch continues to need Endangered Species Act protection. The count […]
The population of monarch butterflies that spend winter along the California coast dropped 86 percent since 2017, according to a recent count by the Xerces Society, an invertebrate conservation group. Preliminary results from the Western Monarch Thanksgiving Count, an annual citizen science program, recorded less than 30,000 butterflies overwintering in California, a significant decline from […]
The Migration and Importance of Monarchs Monarch butterflies, which pollinate many different kinds of wildflowers, are among nature’s great wonders. Their annual migration is one of the most awe-inspiring on Earth: Each fall, millions of these striking black-and-orange butterflies take flight on a 3,000-mile journey across the U.S. and Canada to wintering grounds in Mexico’s […]
Monarch butterflies are already in danger. Their numbers have decreased by 80 percent in the past 20 years, and this year’s count of the number of the black-and-orange butterflies wintering in Mexico was lower than 2017’s. Now, researched reported Tuesday in a Louisiana State University (LSU) press release reveals that two human-caused environmental concerns could […]
The yearly count of monarch butterflies overwintering in Mexico, released Monday, shows a decrease from last year’s count and confirms the iconic orange and black butterfly is still very much at risk. The count of 2.48 hectares of occupied winter habitat is down from 2.91 hectares last winter. Overall, monarchs have declined by more than […]
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