Our oldest Lepidoptera, the good old Monarch (Danaus plexippus), was the first species we have ever reared. Today, on a whim, we decided to collect a few eggs and rear them once again! Everyone knows the iconic Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexipuss). It is perhaps the most familiar of all North American butterflies for its renowned migratory feats as well as for its striking beauty and size. The species dominates in butterfly kits and classroom pets alongside the Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui), another favorite. For a lot of insect enthusiasts it is their first species, and we were no exception. . . We have been rearing Monarchs as far back as 2005 where we first saw them around our elementary school's playground. Though here in Albany, California, Monarchs are a pretty rare sight. At least they were. This year they have been so abundant, we no longer have to hold our breath when a butterfly glides by. In fact, we had already raised scores of them early this year during the spring when our Tropical Milkweed (Asclepias curassavica) plants were completely infested with them. At the time, there were so many that we didn't even bother to collect them all since we had school and so many other rearing projects to deal with. Since then, we have been seeing plenty of the adults well into the summer -- the first time we have ever seen so many them during this season. Normally, we would only observe rare migrant strays during the fall to early spring and only very occasionally spot one during this time of year. Some sources do report that they are more common during wet years, which may explain this odd occurrence because it is an El Niño year this year and we have previously been in severe drought. Or, it could also be because their migration schedules are being thrown off track due to the increase in popularity of the non-native, year-round A. curassavica. In any case, this mysterious change is quite bothersome to say the least. All of a sudden they have become among the most common butterfly in the urban setting -- we can see at least 2-3 of them virtually every day. Up until today, after we reared them once in the spring, we didn't bother to look for any more eggs or caterpillars. We were scared to see how many we would find if we tried. After all, the chance of finding them was practically guaranteed with so many butterflies bombarding us each day, but we simply didn't have the time or energy. But today we decided to take a peek, just for old time's sake. Perhaps next year they would reclaim their scarce status. So first, we did a quick check in our yard. We have a few established Tropical Milkweeds growing around, but only one is in good shape and isn't concealed by fennel so that's what we looked on. Here, we collected four eggs, with one of them being on a little sprout growing nearby. Our next go-to place was around a house two blocks up. Even though there is plenty of milkweed around Albany, none of them are as robust as the Tropical Milkweeds at this house. Not to mention, A. curassavica is preferred over the native varieties. There, we collected 14 more eggs and also managed to snag a butterfly that was nectaring on the milkweed flowers. It turned out to be a female, but unfortunately it would be extremely difficult to set up a proper enclosure around our milkweed for it to lay eggs in. Last time we tried, the butterflies all escaped! In total, that's 18 eggs and not a single caterpillar which is somewhat less than we had expected for how many butterflies there are. But then again, summer-time is not their normal breeding season around here. Again, they may only be here due to A. curassavica disrupting their migratory cycles and causing them to stay and breed when they are not supposed to. Regardless, we are thankful to have them again. . . Back to Monarchs! - Brian
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Timeline 2012–2017
Albany, California This timeline is a series of daily posts recording our observations on and experiences with various insects in Albany California and surrounding areas, from 2012-2017. Since we did not publish this site until 2016, posts before that were constructed retroactively. Starting in August 2017, we moved to Ithaca, New York; posts from there on can be viewed at Timeline 2017-present: Ithaca, New York. Archives (1,011)
August 2017 (49) July 2017 (121) June 2017 (79) May 2017 (77) April 2017 (91) March 2017 (35) February 2017 (12) January 2017 (10) December 2016 (12) November 2016 (26) October 2016 (49) September 2016 (84) August 2016 (94) July 2016 (99) June 2016 (53) May 2016 (21) April 2016 (4) January 2016 (1) August 2015 (3) July 2015 (3) June 2015 (2) June 2014 (3) May 2014 (1) April 2014 (3) March 2014 (3) December 2013 (2) November 2013 (2) October 2013 (5) September 2013 (11) August 2013 (15) July 2013 (9) June 2013 (5) May 2013 (4) April 2013 (3) March 2013 (2) February 2013 (3) January 2013 (2) December 2012 (2) November 2012 (1) October 2012 (2) September 2012 (2) August 2012 (5) July 2012 (1) June 2012 (1) Authors
![]() ![]() Full Species List (Alphabetical by scientific name) Note: - Not every species we encounter is necessarily presented on this site, rather a selection of those that were of particular interest to us and that we felt were worth documenting. - We can't guarantee that all species have been identified accurately, particularly taxa we are not as familiar with. Lepidoptera Actias luna Adelpha californica Agraulis vanillae Allancastria cerisyi Antheraea mylitta Antheraea polyphemus Anthocharis sara Argema mimosae Attacus atlas Battus philenor hirsuta Bombyx mori Caligo atreus Callosamia promethea Coenonympha tullia california Citheronia regalis Cricula trifenestrata Danaus plexippus Eacles imperialis Erynnis tristis Estigmene acrea Eumorpha achemon Eupackardia calleta Furcula cinereoides Heliconius erato Heliconius hecale Heliconius sapho Heliconius sara Hyalophora cecropia Hyalophora columbia Hyalophora euryalus Hylephila phyleus Hyles lineata Junonia coenia Langia zenzeroides formosana Lophocampa maculata Manduca sexta Morpho peleides Nymphalis antiopa Orgyia vetusta Orthosia hibisci quenquefasciata Pachysphinx modesta Papilio cresphontes Papilio eurymedon Papilio glaucus Papilio machaon oregonius Papilio multicaudata Papilio polyxenes asterius Papilio rumiko Papilio rutulus Papilio zelicaon Phyciodes mylitta Phyciodes pulchella Pieris rapae Plejebus acmon Poanes melane Polites sabuleti Polygonia satyrus Pyrgus communis Rothschildia jacobaeae Samia cynthia advena Samia ricini Smerinthus cerisyi Smerinthus ophthalmica Strymon melinus Trichoplusia ni Uresephita reversalis Vanessa annabella Vanessa atalanta Vanessa cardui Unidentified Lepidoptera Hybrids Papilio glaucus × Papilio rutulus Papilio polyxenes asterius × Papilio zelicaon Orthoptera Melanoplus devastator Phaneroptera nana Pristoceuthophilus pacificus Scudderia mexicana Trimerotropis pallidipennis Phasmatodea Carausius morosus Phyllium giganteum Mantodea Mantis religiosa Phyllocrania paradoxa Hymenoptera Apis mellifera Bombus vosnesenskii Brachymeria ovata Linepithema humile Pediobius sp. Polistes dominula Xylocopa varipuncta Unidentified Diptera Lucilia sericata Unidentified Hemiptera Brochymena sp. Leptoglossus sp. Nezara viridula Odonata Argia vivida Libellula croceipennis Coleoptera Coccinella septempunctata Cycloneda polita Diabrotica undecimpunctata Hippodamia convergens Araneae (Class: Arachnida) Araneus diadematus Phidippus johnsoni |