Voracious Monarch butterfly caterpillars create milkweed emergencies throughout Texas. You can seek out pesticide free milkweed from local nurseries or better yet, GYO (grow your own).
How do caterpillars move? They go with their gut. Literally. Amusing VIDEO of Tobacco Hornworm caterpillar doing his gut-slide dance.
Everyone's early this year. Wildflowers, birds, bats, butterflies and moth are all making an early appearance. Is it the wet winter or milder temperatures causing the advanced timing?
Monarch butterfly good news and bad news. Bad news first: numbers are down 28 percent this year. Good news: they're making their way through Texas, sipping nectar and laying eggs. And a bounty of wildflowers awaits them to get the migration off to a good start.
Red Admirals are in town. And we're not talking military personnel. The beautiful black and red butterflies are slurping sap on area trees with the help from migrating Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers (yes, it's a real bird, and that's its real name). Large numbers of Red Admirals signal a BIG year for butterflies.
Scientific research underway by the Monarch Larvae Monitoring Project at the San Antonio River Milkweed Patch. SLIDESHOW
San Antonio's Milkweed Patch Becomes Latest Monarch Larvae Monitoring Project Site and First to be monitored in 2012, as Monarch Butterflies take up permanent residence in San Antonio.
What would Charles Darwin think on his 203rd birthday of butterflies capacity for rapid, evolutionary change? Hmmm.
Occupy MIchoacan! Monarch butterflies move a bit further west in their roost because of climate change and deforestation.
The historic Texas drought continues but recent rains raise hopes and streams for a banner 2012 wildflower season. And that means more butterflies.
