Janice Okoomian, age 9, of Wayland, Massachusetts, for her question:
Is it true that monarch butterflies migrate?
It is hard to believe that little birds can fly very far. But every year they migrate on long journeys between their winter and summer homes. E Te watch them leave in the fall and welcome them back in the spring. So we know it's true. But surely a delicate butterfly can't migrate also. Well, the monarch butterfly does, and what's more, he may migrate much farther than some of the birds.
The people who live in Pacific Grove know for sure that the monarch butterfly migrates. They expect him to arrive in the fall and make preparations to welcome him. And just in case a visitor wants to catch one, there are signs to remind him that Pacific Grove has a law to punish anybody who harms a monarch butterfly. This happy butterfly town is in California. Every year, millions of monarchs fly here and to other places in California to spend the winter.
Where do they come from? This they do not tell. But we know that they spend the summer months spread far and wide across the land. Some come from the western states and the Rockies, some from around the r1ississippi and the Great Lakes, and some fly thousands of miles from New England and even from Canada.
Travelers across the country have seen the huge flocks en route. Andy knows this is true because once, while traveling in Texas, he saw them too. For miles and miles there were big, brownish butterflies winging their way toward California. Experts report that every night, the scattered flocks settle on certain trees, covering every twig. The following flocks choose the very same trees. Perhaps they can sense that other monarchs have been there before them.
During the winter, they rest and do nothing but flutter among the flowers and plants. But when spring arrives, they get ready for their very busy summer season. Flocks of them start to make the return trip across the land.
The monarchs are rather large butterflies, with wings that spread three inches wide. Their colors are a warm velvety orange with a lacy network of dark brown lines. But the lovely creatures are too busy to spend time being admired.
Monarch caterpillars insist on a diet of milkweed leaves. So, the female butterfly lays her small eggs on a milkweed plant. If the spring weather is warm, they hatch in a few days. The caterpillars are striped like tiers, colored yellow, black and white. The hungry worms gorge themselves with food and shed their skins several times. They turn into hard, pale green chrysalises hanging upside down under the leaves. If the weather is warm, in a week or so the green shells break open. And the next generation of velvety winged monarchs struggle out into the sunshine. Meantime the monarchs that have returned perish. Through the summer there is time for several more new generations. The last generation of adults migrate for the winter.
Most of the other butterflies perish when winter comes. The story of the migrating monarchs is full of mysteries. It is mysterious how they fly so far without so much as a compass. It is even more mysterious how they know where to go. Each year, a new generation migrates with no old timers to show them the way. But of course, as we know, the world of nature is full of fascinating mysteries.