Wild Fact #974 – Jet Lagged – Monarch Butterfly
All right, today is pop quiz day! Enough of the moaning and groaning, it won’t be that tough of a quiz. In fact it is only one question! What do Canada Geese and Monarch Butterflies have in common? I am going to assume that the smart, brown-nosing geek sitting in the front said “Professor Richer, they both migrate!”. As usual the brow-noser is dead on!
They may be small but the monarch butterfly is able to migrate south for the winter. As well, it is the only butterfly that will head south and then have a northward migration in the spring. As impressive as this sounds it is important to note that no single butterfly makes the entire trip. Generally, the monarch’s life span in butterfly form is only two months; however, the last generation of monarch’s in the summer will survive around seven months and possibly longer. Around early August the monarch butterfly will head south. Butterflies east of the Rocky Mountains will go to butterfly sanctuaries in Mexico while those west of the Rockies will head to California.
The generation of butterflies that spend the winter down south do not lay eggs until they start migrating north again. During February or March the Monarch’s will make their way back north. Again, the butterflies living east of the Rockies will only migrate to Texas or Oklahoma. The eggs will be laid during this stretch of the spring migration. It is usually the second, third or fourth generation of Monarch’s that make it back to Northern USA or Canada. How these butterflies know where to over winter after several generations is still being studied.
Monarch Butterfly Fast Fact: Did you know that some Monarch’s have traveled across the ocean from North America to Europe? I hope they flew first class for that long trip.
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September 28th, 2009 at 5:40 AM
Thank you Nathan, you picked the perfect topic! As much as I love the Monarch I did not know the life span in butterfly form was so short or that no single butterfly makes the entire trip. I always thought it was last years eggs returning to my milkweed flower bed. Terrific post Nathan – as always.
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Nathan Reply:
September 28th, 2009 at 10:17 PM
Again, thank you for the compliments! You are touching on a future Wild Fact with the milkweed comment but you will have to wait to find out exactly what the details are. I am glad you enjoyed Monday’s Wild Fact! Thanks for reading!!
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September 28th, 2009 at 12:32 PM
great blog keep up the good work
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Nathan Reply:
September 28th, 2009 at 10:10 PM
Thanks for checking out Wild Facts, asfahan! As well, thank you for the nice comments!
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September 28th, 2009 at 4:25 PM
I’ve seen videos of them in Mexico and there are huge clusters of them grouped together – they’re awesome!
What inspires you to choose your Wild Fact for the day.
Random choices or is there a method to your madness???
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Nathan Reply:
September 28th, 2009 at 10:09 PM
My inspiration comes from everywhere! An animal I see on TV or in real life. Sometimes I ask friends and family to name an animal. Sometimes, I just pick a random animal. There really is no method to my madness. I do have a bunch of ideas already planned but it all depends on how I feel every day.
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