Mexico's monarch butterfly population jumped 64% in 2026, offering hope even as experts warn the species remains at risk of extinction.
From the article:
The monarch butterflies that winter in Mexico’s high‑elevation forests are getting a reprieve — but not yet a rescue — as Mexico, the United States and Canada step up joint efforts to keep its famed migration from collapsing.
New figures released this week by Mexico’s Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat) and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) show monarch colonies covered 2.93 hectares of oyamel fir forest in central Mexico this winter, up from 1.79 hectares in 2024-25 — a 64% increase.
Though there can be many negative impacts of honeybees on the landscape in North America: honeybees are not going anywhere and beekeepers are some of the most powerful allies in the fight against insecticides and herbicides.
Right now we NEED honeybees to pollinate our crops. Eventually we should move towards requiring native hedgerows to reduce our reliance on honeybee shipments...not only will this be cheaper for farmers in the future, it will help reduce the amount of insect diseases that are spread by honeybees. (As the bees are shipped all over the continent)
However, honey is always going to be something people want. The important thing for beekeepers to keep in mind, is making sure there are not too many hives per square mile! A single hive is 15,000-50,000 additional mouths to feed in an area that may already have limited pollen resources for native bees. (Who are often solitary)
Responsible bee keepers can improve the impact their hives have by learning how many hives are in an area, planting abundant native flower resources on whatever land they manage, and taking feral hives out of the ecosystem rather than propagate new hives from scratch, or buying queens from retailers.
People who keep honeybees are not bad people for loving honeybees! Honeybees are fascinating animals and often act as ambassadors to the beauty of the insect world. There are many ways we can and do work together to mitigate harm on all insects!
Tan Wei Jack and his mentor Wan Faridah Akmal Jusoh made huge waves in the insect community when they rediscovered a long-lost firefly speci
Firefly species discovered after 90-year absence: 'Even when things seem lost, they can still find their way back'
Jun 11, 2025 1:40 PM
In October, Monash University master’s student Tan Wei Jack was doing a routine specimen examination of a firefly sample discovered in the dense forests of Bukit Kiara, Malaysia.
Then he did a double-take.
“I was examining some previously collected specimens under the microscope and noticed something strange, a feature that didn’t match what I’d just learned about Colophotia fireflies the day before,” Tan told Monash University in early June. “This was the moment I knew that something was different.”
Tan soon realized that he was looking at a Pteroptyx gombakia, or a Gombak bent-winged firefly. The discovery marked the first time that the species had been identified in 90 years — and the first live sighting of the species, ever.
“Everyone was so supportive. I’m really grateful for that,” said Tan, who studies under the tutelage of Dr. Wan Faridah Akmal Jusoh — a leading firefly expert and conservationist.
“There’s still so much to learn, especially about Pteroptyx gombakia,” Tan continued. “The next step is to study its ecology and figure out what it’s doing in a place like Bukit Kiara.”
Jusoh verified her student’s discovery, saying that the characteristic difference was small but remarkably distinct.
“The difference was spotted in the firefly’s light-producing organ called the ‘lantern,’ which is located in the insect’s abdomen,” Jusoh said.
“Indeed, it is truly magical we have this rare group of fireflies living in the heart of our city.”
Tan said that the fieldwork that his honors degree requires has been fully immersive — and incredibly arduous.
“The physical fatigue from hiking and the mental fatigue from constantly being on the lookout for a flash of light, all while being in near total darkness, gradually took its toll,” Tan explained.
“I have come to learn that recognizing your body’s limits and taking appropriate breaks is essential for the long run.”
But his studies have also provided a valuable lesson — one that mirrors the Gombak bent-winged firefly’s return.
“It’s a reminder that even when things seem lost, they can still find their way back,” Tan said.
In October 2023 — a year before Tan’s once-in-a-century discovery — his mentor gave a TED Talk at TED Women in Atlanta, Georgia, on the importance of fireflies — also known as “kelip-kelip.”
“[They’re] so much more than pretty lights … they are an essential part of a healthy ecosystem,” said Jusoh, who spent her summers surrounded by fireflies on the coast of Peninsular Malaysia.
“The lifecycle of fireflies keeps the ecosystem balanced. Each firefly, in each indicative life stage, has specific needs for habitat to thrive.”
She also pointed out that fireflies are an “indicator species.”
“In a mangrove forest, when you see a population of fireflies decreasing, that could be due to water quality degradation, which can be a sign of a collapsing food chain,” Jusoh said. “Why? Because firefly larvae eat snails, and snails need good water quality to thrive.”
Jusoh said that climate change, habitat loss, and pesticide use have ushered in the global decline of fireflies.
Fortunately, there are several eco-friendly measures anyone can take, no matter where they are in the world.
Steps include opting for non-chemical pest management, planting native trees and grasses, and reducing excessive use of artificial lights, which disorient fireflies and actively lessen reproduction rates.
Even in regions where fireflies do not live, these three measures can help countless “backyard” wildlife species, including frogs, bees, owls, bats, and more.
Today, Tan and Jusoh continue their firefly studies and conservation through Friends of Bukit Kiara, a nonprofit that leads environmental efforts throughout the forested region.
“Wildlife and conservation are fields which require a lot of passion,” Tan said, offering encouragement to aspiring scientists. “If you have enough passion, that passion will light the path ahead of you towards the future.”
If you haven't yet cleaned up last year's debris from your garden, consider waiting a little bit! Native bees could use the help. The Xerces Society, a insect conservation group that works with researchers and the US Department of Agriculture, has a really good guide about this here. As a general rule, if you can wait until the temperatures are frequently around 50 degrees Fahrenheit or 10 degrees Celsius at night, the bees will have had time to emerge.
Thanks for reading! Here's a bumblebee resting in a California aster (Symphyotrichum chilense) flower for your trouble. It's often male bumblebees that do this, since they don't return to a nest like female bumblebees do.
This is a fully illustrated 78 card tarot deck based on the Rider-Wait tarot. I also wrote a guidebook to go with it, I’ll be offering the deck with or without the box & physical guidebook (the pdf is free on my website)
I will be launching on October 1st but you can follow the pre-launch page here!
❤️🧡💛💚💙💜
I believe invertebrates possess powerful inherent magic that is condemned to obscurity or derision by the irrational prejudices of society. The Big Bug Gospel is my homage to some of these lesser-known and underappreciated animals. This deck aims to weave their narratives into the classic themes of tarot, offering some new perspectives and insights to both seasoned readers and curious newcomers. Without resorting to judgmental ‘creepy’ stereotypes often associated with them, this deck is a celebration of life in all its forms, emphasizing that every creature, no matter how small or strange, has their own story and significance. We are living in a time where insect populations are rapidly declining - a phenomenon often referred to as the “insect apocalypse.” Numerous studies have documented dramatic decreases in both the abundance and diversity of insect species worldwide. This alarming trend is driven by habitat loss, pesticide use, climate change, pollution, and the spread of invasive plant and animal species. It’s more important now than ever to shine a light on the fascinating lives of invertebrates; each and every one is infinitely worth knowing.
“Conservation-induced extinction” is certainly a strange term. Isn’t the entire point of conservation to prevent extinction?
Let’s start with the venerated conservation success story of the California condor. In 1987 there were only 22 California condors left in existence, and all 22 birds were brought into human care for the purpose of starting a captive breeding program that would eventually save the species from extinction.
As part of bringing the last California condors into human care, all 22 birds underwent anti-parasitic treatment. As a direct result, in the spring of 1987, Colpocephalum californici--a unique species of louse known to only host on the California condor--was driven to extinction.
It bears mentioning that this extinction was a result of negligence, not intentional destruction; it simply did not occur to the people running the California Condor Recovery Plan to account for parasite conservation. There is no evidence that the California condor louse was harmful to its host or that driving it to extinction was in any way helpful to the captive breeding program.
Now at this point you may be thinking, “Oh, well it was only a parasite, I don’t really care if they go extinct”. However, if you subscribe to the ecological notion that every scrap of biodiversity is precious, why is the California condor louse any less valuable than the California condor?
Beyond the intrinsic value of a species, parasites make up an inextricable part of a host species’ biology. Without them, part of the host’s ecological context is lost forever. For example, scientists estimate that less than half of the cells in a human body are actual human cells; the rest are part of our microbiome. To cleanse ourselves of those other organisms would be to remove half of what makes up the human organism--we would be killing off vital co-passengers that contribute to our immune systems, digestion, and other critical functions.
For thousands of years the louse and the condor--and their evolutionary predecessors before them--impacted each others’ evolutionary trajectories like comets caught in each others’ orbit. The California condor would not be the species it is today without the influence of its now extinct louse. Its future trajectory may be more wobbly and unstable as a result of the louse’s extinction.
Some scientists estimate that nearly half of all species on Earth could be parasites in at least one stage of their lives. Failing to conserve parasites would cost us a huge amount of biodiversity. We would also lose scientific knowledge on the evolutionary history of both parasite and host, we would have less healthy ecosystems, and we would see genetic diversity and fitness atrophy in host species (which is of particular relevance to critically endangered species).
Already, conservation-induced extinction has cost us at least four high profile species other than the California condor louse; these were host-specific parasites from the Guam rail, little spotted kiwi, scimitar horned oryx, and Iberian lynx. As more and more species require the help of captive breeding programs, this will only become a larger issue.
We may not like parasites--they may annoy us or make our skin crawl--but they are an important part of our ecosystems and a vital aspect of biodiversity. They deserve to be conserved alongside their hosts, both for their benefit and for the benefit of their hosts.
“The conservation of parasites might well be an essential part of the conservation of their hosts. Thus, if the goal of conservation is to maintain biodiversity, as well as the ecological and evolutionary processes that generate and sustain it, then parasites must also be conserved for their host's sake." (Spencer, H., Zuk, M., 2016, For Host’s Sake: The Pluses of Parasite Preservation)
