At a cruising altitude of 1,200 feet and all but invisible to people on the ground, millions of eastern monarch butterflies are riding tailwinds and thermal plumes overhead in the northern U.S. and southern Canada. And they’re also fluttering to Mexico.
They’re headed south to avoid the frigid northern winter in the “great procession,” a moniker for their annual migration north and south, in spring and fall – a journey that takes four generations of the insects to flap and glide 2,800 miles each way.
While you won’t see the clouds of pretty bugs overhead, you’re more likely this year than last to see them in your autumn gardens, when they stop for a nectar snack. That’s because their population has seen a 64% increase, according to the World Wildlife Fund, an international conservation group.
But don’t clap too loudly just yet for the star of the butterfly world, known for its tangerine orange wings with a 4-inch span and bold black trim and white spots, warns a Northeastern University insect expert.
“Any jump in their population is a good thing for the monarchs, but this isn’t near enough to applaud,” said Damon Hall, an associate professor at Northeastern’s marine and environmental sciences department.
Read more at Northeastern Global News
Photo by Alyssa Stone/Northeastern University
