Monarch Butterfly Migration

By Thea Reichel
Monarch Butterfly Migration
Each fall, millions of monarch butterflies leave their summer breeding grounds in the northeastern U.S. and Canada and travel upwards of 3,000 miles
to reach overwintering grounds in southwestern Mexico. However, they never return.

Monarch butterflies are not able to survive the cold winters of most of the United States so they migrate south and west each autumn to escape the
cold weather. The monarch migration usually starts in about October of each year, but can start earlier if the weather turns cold sooner than that.

After they migrate 2,500 miles, the monarch butterflies will spend their winter hibernation in Mexico and some parts of Southern California where it is
warm all year long. Monarch butterflies use the very same trees each and every year when they migrate, which seems odd because they aren’t the
same butterflies that were there last year.

The Monarch butterfly migrates for 2 reasons. They can not withstand freezing weather in the northern and central continental climates in the winter.
Also, the larval food plants do not grow in their winter overwintering sites, so the spring generation must fly back north to places where the plants are
plentiful.

The monarch overwintering sites are under threat because of people cutting down their favorite trees to build roads, houses and farms. What will
happen to the monarchs if they do not have their special trees to spend the winter?
Why is this research important?
This research on monarch butterfly migration is important because the monarch
overwintering sites are under threat because of people cutting down their favorite
trees to build roads, houses and farms. What will happen to the monarchs if they
do not have their special trees to spend the winter? Butterflies need milkweed,
dill and fennel because they need these in order to migrate.

Dill Milkweed Fennel

Key Words & Ideas
Monarch: Species of caterpillar & a type of butterfly native to North America.

Egg: They are the size of a pinhead. Monarchs lay 30-50 at a time.

Larva/Caterpillar: Eats milkweed 5-10 days before entering stages of growth.

Pupa/Chrysalis: Green in the beginning and turns clear and a butterfly emerges.

Metamorphosis: The change from the larva stage. The complete re-shaping of an animal.

Exoskeleton: The outer structure that holds the monarch together at different stages

Spiders: Predators to the monarch eggs

Threats to monarch population today: People mowing milkweeds, cutting down forests & taking away their habitat.

Importance of monarchs: They pollinate many types of wildflowers & allow for new flowers to grow.
How this relates to Classwork & the Real World
This research on monarch butterfly migration relates to our classwork because
we learned about the different biomes, where we learned about forests which
is the biome where monarch butterflies live. This topic relates to the real world
because it ties to the issue of climate change and deforestation because
without trees, forest and normal climate the butterflies cannot survive.
Map of current Monarch Butterfly Migration
https://journeynorth.org/monarchs
Thank You
Citations
1. Castile, Mia. The Butterfly Migration: Entwined Publishing, 2013.
- This resource will help me in my research of butterfly migration because it thoroughly explains their migration and the purpose for it.
2. “U.S. Forest Service.” Forest Service Shield, www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/pollinators/Monarch_Butterfly/migration/index.shtml.
- This resource will aid my research because it explains how the butterfly migration affects the environment and vice versa.
3. “Track Monarch Butterfly Migration.” Monarch Butterflies, journeynorth.org/monarchs.
- This resource will be helpful for my project because it explains where they migrate as well as what they eat.
4. Sartore, Joel. “Here's How.” Monarch Butterflies Migrate 3,000 Miles, 19 Oct. 2017, www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2017/10/monarch-butterfly-migration/.
- This resource was helpful in my research because it helped me learn about how they migrate and why they do this.
5. “Monarch Butterfly Site: Life Cycle, Migration, Pictures, News, More!” Site: Life Cycle, Migration, Pictures, News, More!, www.monarch-butterfly.com/.
- Now that I have learned about monarch butterfly migration, this resource helped me learn more about the butterflies and how they live and survive.
6. “Monarch Migration.” Save Our Monarchs, www.saveourmonarchs.org/monarch-migration.html.
- This resource taught me about how Monarchs are able to fly and how they survive the migration.
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