CELEBRATE & SAVE THESE ORANGE BEAUTIES
MONARCH MIGRATIONS
The delicate orange flutter of monarch butterfly wings moves en masse in a passionate flee as autumn rolls down through North America. The sight of millions making their journey against crystalline blue skies is spectacular to behold.
Monarch butterflies, the subspecies Danaus plexippus plexippus in particular, migrates each autumn from the north where they have enjoyed their summer, mainly to southern California and Central Mexico, where they spend their winter. Additional overwintering sites have been identified in Arizona and northern Florida.This orange wave is a most spectacular phenomenon.
As monarchs are endangered, due to loss of habitat as a result of human encroachment and climate change, sanctuaries have been established to help protect them.
The Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, located in the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt pine-oak forests ecoregion, northwest of Mexico City, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It contains most of the over-wintering sites of the eastern population of the monarch butterfly. There, the monarchs hibernate in oyamel fir trees.
Pacific Grove, near Monterey, California, is nicknamed "Butterfly Town, U.S.A.," as monarch butterflies cluster together on pine, cypress and eucalyptus trees in their Monarch Grove Sanctuary.
The migration begins in southern Canada in September and moves south, through the United States through October. Hundreds of millions of orange monarchs arrive at their roosting sites in November, where they remain until they begin their northern migration in March.
No individual butterfly ever makes the entire round trip. The distance and length of these journeys exceeds the normal lifespan of monarchs, which is less than two months for butterflies born in early summer. Females lay eggs during the northward migration so that the next generation can carry on.
It takes four generations to complete the annual cycle. Amazingly, monarch's favor the same over-wintering trees each year, despite the fact that each year produces a totally new generation -- they cannot remember, yet somehow they know.
Heading northward, the first generation leaving the overwintering sites only migrates as far north as Texas and Oklahoma. The second, third and fourth generations return to their northern breeding locations in the United States and Canada in the spring.
Monarch butterflies are the only insects that migrate as far as 2,500 miles away. In other parts of the world, such as in Australia and New Zealand, monarchs migrate shorter distances. And in warmer climates, such as in Florida and the Caribbean, they do not migrate at all.
How do the monarchs know when to move? They respond to different cues such as the angle of light coming from the sun, the senescence of larval host plants, decreasing daylight, and temperature drops.
Migrating monarchs rely on the nectar of fall flowers that grow along their two main migration flyways.
Check out Monarchwatch for lots of information on tracking the seasonal migrations.
Monarch overwintering sites are under threat because human encroachment, cutting down the trees and plants that support their lifecycle.
Monarch butterfly populations have been decimated, dropping ten-fold drop over the last decade. A recent study predicted that this population will go quasi-extinct over the next 20 years.
You can learn more about helping monarchs here.
See the incredible beautiful of butterfly wings like you’ve never seen them before in this spectacular macro photography.
And see how a rare species of butterfly is being saved from extinction.
Read more about Opulent Orange all this week on BeautifulNow. Including, The Most Beautiful Pumpkin Festivals to Visit Now, Hack Your Brain with Orange Light, The Grace of Orange Sunsets and 10 Super-Fast Opulent Orange Cars. And check out more beautiful things happening now in BN Wellness, Impact, Nature/Science, Food, Arts/Design, and Travel, Daily Fix posts.
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