Download or read book Millions of Monarchs Bunches of Beetles written by Gilbert Waldbauer and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Insects that are the least bit social may gather in modest groups, like the dozen or so sawfly larvae feeding on a pine needle, or they may form huge masses, like a swarm of migratory locusts in Africa or a cloud of mayflies at the edge of a midwestern lake or river. Why these insects get together and what they get out of their associations are questions finely and fully considered in this learned and entertaining look at the group behavior and social lives of a wide array of bugs. The groups that Gilbert Waldbauer discusses here are not as complex or tightly organized as the better-known societies of termites, wasps, ants, and bees. Some, like the mayflies, come together merely because they emerge from the water in the same place at the same time. But others, like swarms of locusts, are loosely organized, the individual insects congregating to migrate together for distances of hundreds of miles. And yet others form a simple cooperative society, such as the colony of tent caterpillars that weaves a silken tent to house the whole group. Waldbauer tells us how individuals in these and other insect aggregations communicate (or don't), how they coordinate their efforts, how some congregate the better to mate, how some groups improve the temperature and humidity of their microenvironment, and how others safeguard themselves (or the future of their kind) by amassing in such vast numbers as to confound predators. As engaging and authoritative as Waldbauer's previous books, Millions of Monarchs, Bunches of Beetles will enlighten and delight those who know their insects well and those who wish to know them better.
Download or read book Bicycling with Butterflies written by Sara Dykman and published by Timber Press. This book was released on 2021-04-13 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “What a wonderful idea for an adventure! Absolutely inspired, timely, and important.” —Alistair Humphreys, National Geographic Adventurer of the Year and author of The Doorstep Mile and Around the World by Bike Outdoor educator and field researcher Sara Dykman made history when she became the first person to bicycle alongside monarch butterflies on their storied annual migration—a round-trip adventure that included three countries and more than 10,000 miles. Equally remarkable, she did it solo, on a bike cobbled together from used parts. Her panniers were recycled buckets. In Bicycling with Butterflies, Dykman recounts her incredible journey and the dramatic ups and downs of the nearly nine-month odyssey. We’re beside her as she navigates unmapped roads in foreign countries, checks roadside milkweed for monarch eggs, and shares her passion with eager schoolchildren, skeptical bar patrons, and unimpressed border officials. We also meet some of the ardent monarch stewards who supported her efforts, from citizen scientists and researchers to farmers and high-rise city dwellers. With both humor and humility, Dykman offers a compelling story, confirming the urgency of saving the threatened monarch migration—and the other threatened systems of nature that affect the survival of us all.
Download or read book Winged Wonders written by Meeg Pincus and published by Sleeping Bear Press. This book was released on 2020-03-15 with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For decades, as the monarch butterflies swooped through every year like clockwork, people from Canada to the United States to Mexico wondered, "Where do they go?" In 1976 the world learned the answer: after migrating thousands of miles, the monarchs roost by the millions in an oyamel grove in Central Mexico's mountains. But who solved this mystery? Was it the scientist or the American adventurer? The citizen scientists or the teacher or his students? Winged Wonders shows that the mystery could only be solved when they all worked as a team--and reminds readers that there's another monarch mystery today, one that we all must work together to solve.
Download or read book Monarchs and Milkweed written by Anurag Agrawal and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2017-03-07 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The fascinating and complex evolutionary relationship of the monarch butterfly and the milkweed plant Monarch butterflies are one of nature's most recognizable creatures, known for their bright colors and epic annual migration from the United States and Canada to Mexico. Yet there is much more to the monarch than its distinctive presence and mythic journeying. In Monarchs and Milkweed, Anurag Agrawal presents a vivid investigation into how the monarch butterfly has evolved closely alongside the milkweed—a toxic plant named for the sticky white substance emitted when its leaves are damaged—and how this inextricable and intimate relationship has been like an arms race over the millennia, a battle of exploitation and defense between two fascinating species. The monarch life cycle begins each spring when it deposits eggs on milkweed leaves. But this dependency of monarchs on milkweeds as food is not reciprocated, and milkweeds do all they can to poison or thwart the young monarchs. Agrawal delves into major scientific discoveries, including his own pioneering research, and traces how plant poisons have not only shaped monarch-milkweed interactions but have also been culturally important for centuries. Agrawal presents current ideas regarding the recent decline in monarch populations, including habitat destruction, increased winter storms, and lack of milkweed—the last one a theory that the author rejects. He evaluates the current sustainability of monarchs and reveals a novel explanation for their plummeting numbers. Lavishly illustrated with more than eighty color photos and images, Monarchs and Milkweed takes readers on an unforgettable exploration of one of nature's most important and sophisticated evolutionary relationships.
Download or read book One Million Monarchs written by Dawn Leon and published by . This book was released on 2017-03-05 with total page 31 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One Million Monarchs is a beautifully illustrated book for all ages depicting the long journey of the monarch butterfly out of Mexico. Some monarchs are lost along the way, but ONE makes it with the help of someone very special. Are YOU that someone? Read this heart-warming book to find out!
Download or read book Monarchs of the Sea written by Danna Staaf and published by The Experiment. This book was released on 2020-09-15 with total page 255 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Before mammals, there were dinosaurs. And before dinosaurs, there were cephalopods. Publisher’s Note: Monarchs of the Sea was previously published in hardcover as Squid Empire. Cephalopods, Earth’s first truly substantial animals, are still among us: Their fascinating family tree features squid, octopuses, nautiluses, and more. The inventors of swimming, cephs presided over the sea for millions of years. But when fish evolved jaws, cephs had to step up their game (or end up on the menu). Some evolved defensive spines. Others abandoned their shells entirely, opening the floodgates for a tidal wave of innovation: masterful camouflage, fin-supplemented jet propulsion, and intelligence we’ve yet to fully measure. In Monarchs of the Sea, marine biologist Danna Staaf unspools how these otherworldly creatures once ruled the deep—and why they still captivate us today.
Download or read book The Monarchs Are Missing written by Rebecca E. Hirsch and published by Millbrook Press. This book was released on 2024 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Monarch butterfly populations have been declining for the last two decades, and scientists aren't sure why. Skilled science writer Hirsh takes readers on a quest to discover what is happening and what scientists know. Full color.
Download or read book The Monarch Butterfly written by Fred A. Urquhart and published by . This book was released on 1960 with total page 408 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Chasing Monarchs written by Robert Michael Pyle and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2014-04-29 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: DIVAlthough no one had ever followed North American monarch butterflies on their annual southward journey to Mexico and California, in the 1990s there were well-accepted assumptions about the nature and form of the migration. But to Robert Michael Pyle, a naturalist with long experience in monarch conservation, the received wisdom about the butterflies’ long journey just didn’t make sense. In the autumn of 1996 he set out to uncover the facts, to pursue the tide of “cinnamon sailors” on their long, mysterious flight. Chasing Monarchs chronicles Pyle’s 9,000-mile journey to discover firsthand the secrets of the monarchs’ annual migration. Part road trip, part outdoor adventure, and part natural history study, Pyle’s book overturns old theories and provides insights both large and small regarding monarch butterflies, their biology, and their spectacular migratory travels. Since the book’s first publication, its controversial conclusions have been fully confirmed, and monarchs are better understood than ever before. The Afterword for this volume includes not only updated information on the myriad threats to monarch butterflies, but also various efforts under way to ensure the future of the world’s most amazing butterfly migration./div
Download or read book Monarch Butterfly written by Gail Gibbons and published by Lerner Publishing Group. This book was released on 2018-01-01 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Bonnie Kelley-Young's narrative voice is well suited to the subject matter and its audience....The sound effects enhance the story and add to the sense of wonder." -AudioFile
Download or read book The Monarch Butterfly written by Karen Suzanne Oberhauser and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2004 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Synthesizes current scientific knowledge on the life cycle, behavior, spectacular migration, and conservation of this charismatic insect.
Download or read book Monarchs in a Changing World written by Karen S. Oberhauser and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2015-11-16 with total page 350 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Monarch butterflies are among the most popular insect species in the world and are an icon for conservation groups and environmental education programs. Monarch caterpillars and adults are easily recognizable as welcome visitors to gardens in North America and beyond, and their spectacular migration in eastern North America (from breeding locations in Canada and the United States to overwintering sites in Mexico) has captured the imagination of the public. Monarch migration, behavior, and chemical ecology have been studied for decades. Yet many aspects of monarch biology have come to light in only the past few years. These aspects include questions regarding large-scale trends in monarch population sizes, monarch interactions with pathogens and insect predators, and monarch molecular genetics and large-scale evolution. A growing number of current research findings build on the observations of citizen scientists, who monitor monarch migration, reproduction, survival, and disease. Monarchs face new threats from humans as they navigate a changing landscape marked by deforestation, pesticides, genetically modified crops, and a changing climate, all of which place the future of monarchs and their amazing migration in peril. To meet the demand for a timely synthesis of monarch biology, conservation and outreach, Monarchs in a Changing World summarizes recent developments in scientific research, highlights challenges and responses to threats to monarch conservation, and showcases the many ways that monarchs are used in citizen science programs, outreach, and education. It examines issues pertaining to the eastern and western North American migratory populations, as well as to monarchs in South America, the Pacific and Caribbean Islands, and Europe. The target audience includes entomologists, population biologists, conservation policymakers, and K–12 teachers.
Download or read book The Birds of America written by John James Audubon and published by . This book was released on 1842 with total page 476 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This edition has 65 new images, making a total of 500. The original configurations were altered so that there is only one species per plate. The text is a revision of the Ornithological Biography, rearranged according to Audubon's Synopsis of the Birds of North America (1839).
Download or read book Se orita Mariposa written by Ben Gundersheimer (Mister G) and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2019-08-06 with total page 34 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A captivating and child-friendly look at the extraordinary journey that monarch butterflies take each year from Canada to Mexico; with a text in both English and Spanish. Rhyming text and lively illustrations showcase the epic trip taken by the monarch butterflies. At the end of each summer, these international travelers leave Canada to fly south to Mexico for the winter--and now readers can come along for the ride! Over mountains capped with snow, to the deserts down below. Children will be delighted to share in the fascinating journey of the monarchs and be introduced to the people and places they pass before they finally arrive in the forests that their ancestors called home.
Download or read book Spirit of Butterflies written by Maraleen Manos-Jones and published by Abradale Press. This book was released on 2000-11 with total page 150 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A vividly illustrated celebration of butterflies that discusses their presence in art and culture throughout the ages and examines their symbolism and the related beliefs of a wide variety of peoples.
Download or read book Flight Behavior written by Barbara Kingsolver and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2012-11-06 with total page 457 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Set in the present day in the rural community of Feathertown, Tennessee, Flight Behavior tells the story of Dellarobia Turnbow, a petite, razor-sharp 29-year-old who nurtured worldly ambitions before becoming pregnant and marrying at seventeen. Now, after more than a decade of tending to small children on a failing farm, oppressed by poverty, isolation and her husband's antagonistic family, she has mitigated her boredom by surrendering to an obsessive flirtation with a handsome younger man. In the opening scene, Dellarobia is headed for a secluded mountain cabin to meet this man and initiate what she expects will be a self-destructive affair. But the tryst never happens. Instead, she walks into something on the mountainside she cannot explain or understand: a forested valley filled with silent red fire that appears to her a miracle. After years lived entirely in the confines of one small house, Dellarobia finds her path suddenly opening out, chapter by chapter, into blunt and confrontational engagement with her family, her church, her town, her continent, and finally the world at large.
Download or read book The Amazing Monarch written by and published by Benbella Books. This book was released on 2010 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In "The Amazing Monarch," author and photographer Windle Turley chronicles the life cycle of the monarch butterfly. Replete with page after page of full-color photographs, the book shows the monarch's rarely captured destination wintering grounds. The contrast of the orange and black pops off the page as the reader goes on a visual tour in the high mountains of Mexico. The multifaceted work also contains poems and quotations focusing on the beauty of these tiny animals that weigh only .02 of an ounce. With carefully researched text and consultation with leading entomologists, "The Amazing Monarch" tracks the monarch's migration and interesting life spans. Amazingly, this migration only takes place every four to five generations, but somehow, by the last week of October, the returning generation arrives at the same small groups of oyamel fir trees their ancestors populated the year before.The handful of roosting sites, located at about 10,000-feet altitude, each may contain 20 to 30 million monarchs in a single site only a few acres in size. After their stay in Mexico, it is crucial to head north to get back to Texas and Louisiana and specific types of milkweeds to lay their eggs during a critical three-week period. If the monarchs reach their destination too early, frost on the milkweed could kill the eggs. A late arrival may mean the milkweed is no longer succulent. Returning from Mexico, the fourth or fifth generations will now have lived nine months, and before dying, will lay eggs during the last two weeks of March. A female will lay 400 to 500 eggs during her lifetime, and primarily on only one type of milkweed plant, but only a small percentage of eggs will actually survive to become adult butterflies. The offspring of the first generation travel on to Kansas and Tennessee during April where the female will again lay her eggs and die, after having lived only 45 to 60 days. The process continues to South Dakota, Iowa and Wisconsin in May and the Great Lakes and Canada region in June. But the fourth or fifth generation will not breed, lay eggs, or die; instead, they head south in the late summer. Granted almost unprecedented access by Mexican wildlife officials, Turley photographed the insects in their natural habitats at their sanctuaries in Los Saucos near Valle de Bravo, State of Mexico and at the Sierra Chincua Sanctuary near Mineral de Anganguo, State of Michoacan--areas unknown to outsiders until 1975.
