Emerging Monarch

Digital composite of an original fresco painting

A monarch butterfly emerges from its chrysalis with wet wings, a tiny, fragile creature with a huge impact on our understanding of ecology. The monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) is an “indicator species,”  an ecological term meaning it is so linked to the environment that populations thriving— or failing— expose the true health of entire ecosystems.

Exhibited in: Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History’s “Art of Nature” exhibit; San Francisco Public Library’s Jewett Gallery, a Women Eco Artists Dialog exhibit

copyright K Anandakuttan