Monarch: The King of Butterflies

By Jocelyn Geboy in News on Sep 13, 2005 3:05PM

Chicagoist knows that we can sometimes be a little weird. That is, sometimes we do and say things which makes other people give us that look. You know the one. The “you’re more than a little crazy, aren’t you?” look.

Singing (and dancing) to the Muzak while shopping in the Jewel. Telling the people handing out ad material at Union Station our thoughts on the marketing strategy of “The Power of 4.” Talking to people’s dogs in the dog voice.

So, it was with much rejoicing that we found that there was actual scientific evidence for our recent suspicion that we had been seeing a plethora of monarch butterflies lately.

We’ve been seeing them all over, and we thought the crazy was maybe just here to stay. It hasn’t been since grade school that the monarch butterfly was so on our minds; the regal butterfly being the most heralded example of metamorphosis that every science teacher has used since the dawn of man, the evolution of textbooks, or intelligent design of computers. Whatever you’re into.

It seems that the long, dry summer we've had is exactly what monarchs are into, by the way. On their annual migration from their homes here in the United States to their winter chillout pads, the butterflies store up food and gear up for the nearly 3,000 mile trek to their roosting spot in sunny Central Mexico. With the weather being hot and dry this year, many of the natural enemies (fungi and bacteria) of the butterfly and the initial stage caterpillar have been knocked off.

There are other species of butterflies and moths that move to warmer climes, but they emigrate -- only moving in one direction. The monarch is unique in they are the only species to travel the huge span back and forth every year. However, each individual butterfly only makes the trip once. Unlike birds, it is a butterfly's kid's GRANDKID (that's three generations, for those counting at home -- a butterfly for each trip) that comes back down the next year.

The peak migration will range from September 8th to September 20th, with the midpoint being September 16th.

So, if you're in to entymology (INsects = ENTymology, words = etymology), be on the lookout for the badass butterfly that goes both ways.

Images via monarchwatch.org and Rachelle Bowden.