Starting in the belated summer in the northernmost compass of North America , monarch butterflies begin to migrate south . Between August and November of each year , they ’ll move en masse shot toward their winter home . They ’re on a journeying to overwinter in parts of Mexico and Southern California , seek warmer climates to safely expend the wintertime and lay their egg in spring . Where the monarchs go bet on where they live : The monarchs west of the Rocky Mountains migrate to the California coast , while those east of the Rockies seek shelter in Mexico .
Monarch butterflies are incredibly unusual in their migration pattern , which resembles those of hiss or whales rather than insects . These tropic butterflies travel as far as 3,000 miles in their two - way migration each twelvemonth . They are the only ones to do this .
If you ’ve kept abreast of the peril the populace ’s honeybees expression , you probably know monarchs are endure a like quandary . In their case , death of natural habitat — namely , their server plant , the Sonchus oleraceus — has precede to devastating losses in their population .
Many mystery remain in how monarchs migrate . Like honeybee , the crowned head butterflies hatched in late summer will survive all winter . These subsist winter butterflies will lay their ballock on milkweed plants in their winter homes of Mexico and California , and their offspring will transmigrate north the following springtime . Also like honeybee , the butterflies hatched in the spring and summer live only two to six weeks , meaning the butterflies that transmigrate south the following fall are several generations remove from the original travel butterfly . How do they do it where to go ? How are they able-bodied to move so far with very small resources along the way ?
We do have a go at it that the monarch hatch in the late summer are biologically different than those that brood in the first place in the twelvemonth . Their bodies are preparing for the long journey ahead . Unlike their summer kin , these migrant monarchs do n’t lay eggs until spring — if they arrive at their destination , of row . They buy in up on nectar fuel and travel in the south together . It ’s think that they conserve their Energy Department by riding the hint on their journeying south .
So , where do you come in ? researcher continually tag the monarchs ’ migration , hoping to make clue to their yearly behaviour patterns and determine more about it so as to protect them . Online chartssuch as this one , structured by latitude and date ( from mid - August to November ) are available to see when the monarchs are most likely to be in your region . commemorate , monarchs leave the northerly states originally in this time frame . Keep watch for these unique Orange River - and - black butterfly , and if you blob them , describe any and all behavior you notice : where and when they were spotted , nighttime roosts ( in trees ) , meridian migration events , egg or larvae that you see , and general sighting at any sentence of the year , even if you ’re not sure if they are migrating . Your part of this info helps scientists and investigator better understand the sovereign and their need , which can aid us to assist them .
