On today’s episode, we talk with Mongabay contributor Martha Pskowski, who recently traveled to central Mexico to report on threats to monarch butterflies in their overwintering grounds. Listen here: …
Many pollinator insect species like bees, butterflies, and hoverflies are on the decline, due in large part to habitat destruction driven by conversion of land to agricultural fields and urbanization.…
Fewer and fewer monarch butterflies are reaching their overwintering grounds in Mexico every year, and new research might shed light on why. The mountains of central Mexico represent such critical…
ZITÁCUARO, Mexico - “As long as the butterflies keep coming, we’ll still have work here,” says Javier Ambrocio, looking out over the Sierra Chincua Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary. A cold breeze…
There isn’t much primary forest left in eastern Africa. In Mozambique, there’s officially none, according to 2015 numbers from the Food and Agriculture Association (FAO) of the UN. But a…
Monarch butterflies depend on milkweed and its poisonous compounds that are deadly to most other insects. But a new study finds global warming may be making the very plant monarch…
Chimps have been taught to sound an alarm when poachers approach; polar bears and condors have been trained to avoid towns; and even butterflies can learn new tricks.
If you’re curious about the natural world, chances are you’ve seen Emily Graslie’s YouTube channel, The Brain Scoop. From wondering about peregrine falcon promiscuity and how owl vomit helps us…
The changes wrought by climate change on the conditions that support life on Earth force some plants and animals into different ranges. To address this issue, certain conservation strategies aim…
A 2015 study found that humans activities are driving species loss at a rate 100 times faster than historical baseline levels — which the researchers behind the study characterized as…
This butterfly was hiding in plain sight. In 2010, butterfly expert Andrew Warren was organizing specimens at the Florida Museum of Natural History, when he encountered a series of butterfly…
Scientists on a multi-year expedition in Bolivia's Madidi National Park have recorded nearly a thousand species of butterflies – with many more expected to come. Madidi National Park sits along…
or several months until very recently, a gray pall of haze hung over Singapore, a result of uncontrolled wildfires and peatland hotspots in neighboring Indonesia. And as Anuj Jain from…
A recent study concludes that a new, overwintering population of the Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) in the Southern U.S. is the direct result of ideal breeding conditions created by increased…
A butterfly in Malaysia. Photo credit: Bernard DUPONT. In choosing sites to target for protection, conservationists typically look for healthy ecosystems with high biodiversity — places with a great number…
A bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) covered in pollen. Photo by: P7r7/Creative Commons 3.0 Saving the world's pollinators may be a public health issue, according to recent research from Harvard and the…
Monarch butterfly population is second lowest on record The shrinking of the migrating monarch butterfly population. Image by: WWF. The world's migrating monarch butterfly population has bounced back slightly from…
First female Dakota skipper reared at the Minnesota Zoo. Photo by: Erik Runquist/Minnesota Zoo. This fall, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service added two little-known prairie butterflies to the Endangered…
Species declined 90 percent in 20 years Monarch butterflies were once a common sight throughout the North American heartland. In Mexico, where they overwinter, single trees would often be covered…
New research shows most Americans place importance on the protection of the ailing monarch butterfly, which is experiencing a steep decline in numbers. The study, published in Conservation Letters, found…
Scientists have discovered the gene enabling multiple female morphs that give the Common Mormon butterfly its very tongue-in-cheek name. doublesex, the gene that controls gender in insects, is also a…
The monarch butterfly population overwintering in Mexico this year has hit its lowest numbers ever, according to WWF-Mexico. Monarch butterflies covered just 0.67 hectares in Mexico's forest, a drop of…
Mongabay announces its first annual top contributor prizes for 2013. Mongabay's internship program has benefited from the hard work and great environmental reporting of more than 30 writing interns since…
In a large room that used to house aquatic mammals at the Minnesota Zoo, Erik Runquist holds up a vial and says, "Here are its eggs." I peer inside and…
Conservationist’s faced a crushing blow last month as two butterfly species native to Florida were declared extinct. "Occasionally, these types of butterflies disappear for long periods of time but are…
Europe's grassland butterfly population has plummeted in the past two decades, new research published on Tuesday shows, with a near halving in the numbers of key species since 1990. The…
In the next few months, the beating of fragile fiery orange and black wings will transport the monarch butterfly south. But the number of monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) reaching their…
