Bug Squad

Bumble bee on bull thistle at Bodega Bay
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A monarch nectaring on tropical milkweed, Asclepias curassavica.(Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Tropical Milkweed Doesn't Deserve the Bad Rap

October 10th, 2022
Fact: Milkweed is the host plant of the monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus. Fact: Without milkweed, no monarchs. Yet a milkweed species that's been thriving in California for more than a century is getting a bad rap.
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A male monarch arrives Oct. 3 to nectar Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola, in a Vacaville pollinator garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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The Monarch Who Arrived Late for Dinner

October 5th, 2022
Never be late for dinner or it might be all gone. Take the case of the Mexican sunflowers, Tithonia rotundifola, that we planted last April for the monarchs. Monarchs seem to favor Tithonia more than any other nectar source in our pollinator garden.
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