The Western monarch butterfly population in California has plummeted to a near-record low of less than 10,000 this winter. The 28th annual Western Monarch Count — conducted by hundreds of partners and volunteers — reported a peak monarch population of 9,119 overwintering butterflies. It was the second lowest on record since the count started in […]
Last year, the number of western monarch butterflies wintering on the California coast reached a record low, alarming conservationists. But this year, unofficial counts show the iconic insects returning to their winter haunts by the hundreds and thousands. “We are overjoyed that migratory monarch butterflies have not disappeared from the western U.S.,” Xerces Society for […]
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 […]
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