A Monarch Butterfly
by L Bosco
Title
A Monarch Butterfly
Artist
L Bosco
Medium
Photograph - Digital Image
Description
This monarch is one of many butterflies in the Sarasota Jungle Gardens Butterfly Garden. Monarchs are not all that unusual, but those that migrate are endangered. The annual migration of North America’s monarch butterfly is a unique and amazing phenomenon. The monarch is the only butterfly known to make a two-way migration as birds do. Unlike other butterflies that can overwinter as larvae, pupae, or even as adults in some species, monarchs cannot survive the cold winters of northern climates. Using environmental cues, the monarchs know when it is time to travel south for the winter. Monarchs use a combination of air currents and thermals to travel long distances. Some fly as far as 3,000 miles to reach their winter home. Monarchs in Eastern North America have a second home in the Sierra Madre Mountains of Mexico. Monarchs in Western North America overwinter in California.
The eastern population of North America’s monarchs overwinters in the same 11 to 12 mountain areas in the States of Mexico and Michoacan from October to late March. Mexican forests have undergone a good deal of pressure as avocado farmers are cutting down the forests where monarchs normally overwinter. In the US, many people spray milkweed, the only plant that these butterflies lay their eggs.
Uploaded
October 25th, 2020
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