Where are all the monarchs?
Last year at this time, we recorded monarchs arriving here in Vacaville, Solano County, to lay their eggs on our milkweed.
So far this year: zero, zip, zilch. Let's throw in a little nada, too, for good measure. Zero, zip, zilch, nada.
Earlier this year, the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation reported a drastic drop in the Western monarch population, counting only 9,119 butterflies in 2024 at the monarch overwintering sites in coastal California, compared to more than 230,000 in 2023. This amounts to a 96 percent decrease, marking the second lowest count since Xerces began tracking in 1997.
Hmmm...Maybe if I post a couple of archived images, they'll flutter our way?
Meanwhile, other insects are claiming the milkweed plants. We've been seeing aphids (always aphids!), lady beetles (faster than DoorDash), honey bees. leafcutter bees, and even gray hairstreak butterflies on our narrowleaf milkweed, Asclepias fascicularis.
