Young describes some childhood experiences and his discoveries regarding butterflies and he covers the time from mating to egg-laying, then hatching, caterpillar appearance, and the many habits and activities. A discussion of spring peepers leads to comments on the loss of frogs and amphibians. Milkweed survives winter but monarchs return to the tropics. Farming and weed control affect the food supply of monarchs and an essay appears on that topic. Midsummer brings cicadas.
Annual cicadas are different from periodical cicadas.
There are 3 species and they reappear every 13 or 17 years. They provide food for birds and they need trees to survive. Wasps are our allies. Paper wasps rescue our trees, crops, and other plant life by eating insects such as caterpillars and cutworms. Fireflies are in a pattern of decline.