History, Natural History & the Arts
The black and orange stripes catch my eye as I swing the scythe through dew-laden grass. My eyes typically follow the tip of the 28-inch blade as I mow, trying to keep it level with the ground, but the contrasting color pattern pulls my attention to milkweed plants just a few feet to my right.
A group of seven very hairy caterpillars, sporting alternating tufts of black, white, and orange hairs, are nibbling away at a leaf. [Read more…] about How Milkweed Tussock Moths Evade Predators
In New York, Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) begin their annual fall migration in mid-August. These butterflies are the great-great-grandchildren of the monarchs that migrated to Mexico last fall.
Here are some ways you can help monarchs: [Read more…] about Help Monarchs on their Long Migration South
On a warm summer morning, you’re sitting in your yard enjoying a slow moment, when a flash of color catches your eye. Bright orange and black wings dance through the air before alighting on a purple coneflower.
There’s a good chance your first thought is “monarch butterfly.” After looking at the butterfly more closely, however, you realize it’s not quite right for a monarch. It’s a bit too small, and there’s a black line bisecting the black veins on both hind wings. This is no monarch: this is a viceroy butterfly. [Read more…] about The Real Story of the Viceroy & the Monarch
In Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, Alice stumbles upon a large mushroom. She peeps over the edge and encounters a caterpillar “smoking a long hookah, and taking not the slightest notice of her or anything else.” If Alice had touched the creature, she might have been in for an even bigger shock – forked horns, nasty smells, and other repellent tricks. [Read more…] about Caterpillar Defenses: The Varied Ways Caterpillars Avoid Predation
The Adirondack Garden Club’s native plant garden at Families First on Water Street in Elizabethtown, Essex County, NY, is in only its first year, but the number of Monarch caterpillars (and others) calling the garden plot home this season are a clear indication of the project’s success. [Read more…] about Elizabethtown Native Plant Garden Project Update
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