Monarch butterflies that winter in California’s Pismo Beach, especially males that had a demanding day, search out dewdrops as a water source.
Butterfly watchers have long studied so-called puddling behavior, where butterflies congregate around water edges, says Dennis Frey of California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. He noticed something he suspected might be similar while he watched butterflies set off early in the morning toward a dewy meadow.