The Big Day is tomorrow.
The official start of the 17th Annual Butterfly Festival of
Mission, TX. This is why we came. It is what we have been anxiously
awaiting. There is only one
problem. The severe Texas drought means
fewer flowers, fewer flowers means less nectar, and less nectar means fewer
butterflies! The butterflies aren’t
picky about which plants the nectar comes from as long as they can find the
plants. They use their vision to find a
bloom, but once they are on the plant they “taste” with receptors on their feet
to find the nectar.
Monarchs have a few other “super” powers also. They can see polarized ultraviolet light
(humans cannot) and they can hear ultrasound (humans cannot). Butterflies can also touch and feel with
hairs that cover their “skin”. Monarchs
also have ears and can hear both high-pitch and low-pitch sounds. However, their ears are not on their heads
where you might expect, they have a “hearing” membrane located at the base of
each wing. Their antennae perform double
duty. They are used for both touch and
smell. The male Monarch can smell a
female from over a mile away! (refer to yesterday’s post to find out what
happens once he gets her scent!)
Due to the drought, I have seen only a few around the RV
park. The butterflies won’t change their
migration route in order to find areas less affected by the drought. The route is hardwired into their DNA
somehow. As a result, there will be fewer
Monarchs making it all the way to Mexico.
To make matters worse, the trees in which they roost over the winter in
Mexico are being cut down by illegal logging operations, which the Mexican government
is attempting to stop. Unfortunately, until
the drought ends and the logging is stopped there will be fewer and fewer Monarchs
each year.
Now, when you do see one, how do you know whether it is a
male of female? Do you even care whether
it is a male or female? I don’t
especially care but since I found out I’m going to tell you anyway.
The male Monarch Butterfly is easily distinguished from the female by two highly visible black spots (pouches of "love" chemicals) on the male's hind wings and the thinner black webbing within the wings. The female's webbing is thicker and she has no identifying wing spots as does the male. Now, go out and find a Monarch and determine its sex. If you can do that, fee free to call yourself a lepidopterist.
The male Monarch Butterfly is easily distinguished from the female by two highly visible black spots (pouches of "love" chemicals) on the male's hind wings and the thinner black webbing within the wings. The female's webbing is thicker and she has no identifying wing spots as does the male. Now, go out and find a Monarch and determine its sex. If you can do that, fee free to call yourself a lepidopterist.
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