Posts Tagged: monarch butterfly
A Visit with Santa Claus on Christmas Morning

Christmas morning and the sights are bright. Santa came in his sleigh last night. He came with a whoosh and a ho-ho-ho. He came with a monarch and a no-no-no. "Don't let...
Santa Claus greets a monarch, which scientists say may be heading for extinction. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A Monarch Named Ruth

When a monarch butterfly fluttered into the Davis garden of naturalist Greg Kareofelas and laid an egg on his narrowleaf milkweed, it marked the beginning of a story that...
The Egg: Greg Kareofelas collected this egg from a narrowleaf milkweed in his Davis yard on Aug. 25. (Photo by Greg Kareofelas)
The Caterpillar: The egg that Greg Kareofelas collected Aug. 25 became a larva or caterpillar 3.5 days later. (Photo by Greg Kareofelas)
The Chrysalis: The caterpillar formed a chrysalis 12.5 days later. (Photo by Greg Kareofelas)
The Adult: The monarch eclosed only 8.5 days after forming the chrysalis and is shown here drying its wings. (Photo by Greg Kareofelas)
Meet Ruth: The monarch, a female, spreads her wings. Greg named her "Ruth," after Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a champion of gender equality and women's rights. (Photo by Greg Kareofelas)
A Monarch Is Like a Stained Glass Window

Ever seen a back-lit monarch butterfly? It's like a stained-glass window in a centuries-old steepled church where you cannot see the ugliness of the world, but its...
A monarch butterfly, looking like a stained glass window, rises from a tropical milkweed, Asclepias curassavica, on Aug. 7 in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Up, up and away. The monarch rises from a tropical milkweed, Asclepias curassavica, on Aug. 7 in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Independence Day and a Monarch

We call it the Fourth of July or Independence Day. Our 13 American colonies rose up against the monarch of Great Britain, King George III, and declared themselves free and...
A monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus, eclosed today (July 3) and is drying its wings on Hot Lips salvia, Salvia microphylla. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Portraits of a Monarch Just Stopping By

Welcome, Danaus plexippus! A monarch butterfly, the first of the year, fluttered through our family pollinator garden in Vacaville, Calif. last Sunday and hung...
A male monarch, Danaus plexippus, spreads its wings on a tower of jewels (Echium wildpretii) in Vacaville, Calif. on Sunday, May 23. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The monarch lands on a mallow, Althaea officinalis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The monarch took a liking to a yellow rose, "Sparkle and Shine," related to the Julia Child rose. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The monarch touched down on a succulent, hens-and-chicks (when it blooms, it's known as a "rooster." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The monarch stayed on the ear of a cat (garden sculpture) for about five minutes. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)