Ann Dean/Contributed Photo
Monarch Watch’s fall open house will allow folks of all ages to welcome the butterflies as they migrate from the north, while learning about our pollinators.
This Pearl Crescent butterfly was blending in nicely to the yellow ray flowers of the sweet coneflower. This time of year, you can find many insects and spiders colored similar to the flowers they hang out on, either to hide from predators, or hide as predators.
Nathan Kramer / Lawrence Times
The Environmental Sustainability Advisory Board plans to urge Lawrence city commissioners to adopt an environmentally friendly ordinance that could reduce greenhouse gas emissions while saving renters money.
August Rudisell / The Lawrence Times
Sunflower fields are abloom in Douglas County at Grinter Farms and Hunsinger Sunflower Patch. Neither farm charges admission, but both welcome donations.
Controlled summer burns are hotter and more effective in pushing back woody plants from prairie remnants.
Big bluestem has seeded out and is pollinating. Their seedheads can be taller than a person, and is also known by the name “turkey foot” due to the resemblance to the footprint of a turkey.
Greg Kramos / USFWS
The lesser prairie chicken, a dancing grouse that has long teetered between threatened and endangered classifications, lost its federal protections in court in a victory for Great Plains petroleum and cattle industries.
This adult cicada is emerging from its nymph exoskeleton shell, still upside down and its wings still curled up on its back. It will right itself and the wings will unfurl and dry, and the cicada will take on its familiar colors before flying off.
Nathan Kramer / Lawrence Times
A melange of shadow boxes with seed heads, pressed flowers, prints and faerie doors is on display at the Lawrence Public Library to foster wonder and enthusiasm for native plants and ecosystem diversity.
A local weather phenomenon holds that the 6,100-person town of Tonganoxie, Kansas, can weaken and divide thunderstorms and tornadoes. Experts are mixed on its existence — and what causes it — but locals say otherwise.
