We've been noticing in our area, and within about a 100-mile radius, lots and lots of butterflies! They are *everywhere*! Sometimes in swarms, but they are spread out pretty far usually. It's a lot of fun to see, as we usually don't have so many in this desert area. Amazing what a little water will do.
Source 3z
I noticed that the picture in the story doesn't look like a monarch butterfly. I know that monarch butterflies migrate in the fall and then fly back in the spring. Outside of that, you don't generally see that many butterflies at once and especially in the desert areas. I would love to see a picture of all those butterflies, it would be absolutely beautiful. Think you could sneak a picture of them for us roz?
We haven't had the "drapery" of butterflies reported in other areas, but a "scattering." Occasionally, we see a swarm, but mostly it's just, hey, there's one... there's one...there's one! However, if it happens here, I'll be sure to upload a picture.
Milkweed losses may not fully explain monarch butterfly declines
Monarch butterfly declines cannot be attributed merely to declines in milkweed abundance, researchers report. The new research reviews decades of studies of monarchs and includes an in-depth analysis of milkweed populations at the heart of the butterflies' summer range. Ref. Source 1c.
When butterfly male sex-bias flaps its wings. In butterflies, sex is determined by chromosome differences. But unlike in humans with the familiar X and Y, in butterflies, it is the females that determine the sex of offspring. Males are ZZ, while females are ZW. How do females compensate for the loss of genetic information? New research shows that, contrary to previously inconsistent findings, in all species studied, that the expression of Z-linked genes is consistently equalized between the sexes. Source 1c.