Monarch Butterflies Reach Wintering Grounds

Two days ago, on November 6th, the first Monarch Butterflies arrived in their 73-mile-wide overwintering area in the Transvolcanic Mountains of Central Mexico. This miraculous flight, which takes a Monarch roughly two months, can be up to 3,000 miles long. Using the sun, and most likely the earth’s magnetic field, they head for specific stands of Oyamel Fir trees, where they will cluster and be protected, unless weather conditions are severe, from extreme temperatures, predators , rain and snow until next March, when their journey north begins. (These butterflies only get about half way back to New England, at which time they mate and lay eggs. The third or fourth generation of these monarchs will reach their eastern destination.) To track the migration of these remarkable insects, go to http://www.learner.org/jnorth/monarch/index.html.

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