March of the Monarchs

The Monarch butterfly is an amazing creature. Even our top scientists have yet to understand them. They have a unique ability to find their way back to the same place their ancestors migrated from, every year.

In the summertime, they can be found in their ancestral breeding grounds in Canada. Then, when Fall comes, they begin a 2,000 mile journey to the south. Millions of Monarchs will travel all the way to the highlands of central Mexico. They always return to the same 12 forest groves, and some to the same exact trees as their ancestors. Then, in March they will begin their trip back to the north. They will follow the seasonal growth of a plant called Milkweed, on which they thrive.

Unlike other migrating creatures, each individual insect will not complete the entire 4,000 mile round trip. They will make it as far as the U.S. Gulf Coast, where they will lay eggs and die. The new generations will progress to the north, breeding every few weeks until summertime, when their children or grandchildren reach Canada. In the fall, this migration cycle will begin again.

Scientists have been studying them, and still have yet to learn exactly how they manage to accomplish all this. They have determined that the butterfly has a unique internal clock which guides them. They have been studying the rythmic molecular charges in the four brain cells that make up the Monarch's timing device. They have found two light-sensitive genes that drive the clockworks. Also, they have found a gene that was previously found only in humans and other mammals. This gene measures the passage of time.

Each year, the scientists tag and track thousands of these butterflies. Last year, they said over fifty-five million Monarchs made this amazing trip! Although they weigh barely half a gram, which is .02 ounce, they have been clocked flying at speeds up to thirty miles per hour. Amazingly, they manage to fly 375 miles of their trip over open water. They have also been seen as high as 12,000 feet in the sky.

Scientists are still learning more about this amazing butterfly all the time, and they are making their discoveries available to us. There is a tremendous amount of information available about this fascinating subject in books and also on the internet. I think you will find that the Monarch butterfly is a truly amazing creature, and a very enjoyable subject to learn about.