Hi Ecoblitzers! What a great month we have had, with so many butterflies!
You all did fabulous this month, we had a total of 17 desert broom plants located and 185 total butterfly and skippers representing 29 species.
Plus many other pollinators including
4 honeybees,
9 wasps of 4 species
4 native bees of 3 species and
5 Annas hummingbirds.
Great Work Team!! Keep it up:-)
Sincerely,
Maricopa County Parks Natural Resource Specialist.
November's focal species: Monarch versus Queen butterflies:
Identification Tips: When wings are folded, Queens appear solid orange compared to the varying shades of a Monarch. The Queens’ solid dark orange is interrupted with occasional white dots–nothing like the striking stained-glass veins and color pattern of the Monarch. With their wings open, the difference is even more obvious. The Queen is solid, the Monarch has varied coloration.
Did you know that butterfly populations have been decreasing over the years? In fact, in 2020 the western Monarch butterfly numbers dropped dramatically, the California overwintering preliminary counts reported a low 1800 monarchs with 95% of the results completed, this is was way down from the 30,000 that had been counted for the two consecutive years prior (2019 and 2018).
Link to the challenge flyer https://www.maricopacountyparks.net/assets/1/6/November_-_Monarch_and_Queen_Butterflies1.pdf
