Facts about Migration Patterns of Monarch Butterflies
- 06
Milkweed plants are essential to monarch butterfly migration, as they serve as the sole food source for monarch caterpillars throughout their breeding range.
- 05
A small population of monarch butterflies on the west coast of North America overwinters in coastal California, particularly in groves of eucalyptus and Monterey pine trees.
- 04
During spring remigration, monarchs born in Mexico travel northward in successive generations, with no single butterfly completing the full round trip.
- 03
Monarch butterflies that overwinter in Mexico are a unique 'super generation' that lives several months longer than the summer generations, which survive only a few weeks.
- 02
The navigational system of monarch butterflies uses a time-compensated sun compass, integrating their circadian clock with the position of the sun to maintain a southwesterly heading.
- 01
Eastern North American monarch butterflies migrate up to 4,500 kilometers each autumn to overwintering sites in the oyamel fir forests of central Mexico.