Butterflies Belong Here by Deborah Hopkinson

Author:Deborah Hopkinson [Hopkinson, Deborah and So, Meilo]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Chronicle Books LLC
Published: 2020-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

Our friends and family helped build a fence, design our garden, and find the best milkweed for where we live.

Best of all was planting day.

While monarchs don’t gather in a flock like birds before they set out, observers tend to see larger groups as the insects head south, especially when they roost at night. The butterflies stop to drink nectar along the way. A group of butterflies is called a swarm, a rabble, or a kaleidoscope.

In winter, monarchs west of the Rocky Mountains travel to small groves of trees on the California coast. The eastern population of North American monarchs spends the winter months, from October to mid-March, in about a dozen mountain areas in Mexico. Although the local people knew about the butterflies’ overwintering sites, it wasn’t until the 1970s that scientists found out about them.

During this time, the monarchs roost in the moist, cool canopy of trees called oyamel firs. The cool weather slows their metabolism. The moist air keeps them from drying out. They rely on their fat supplies rather than nectar.

In 2008, the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in Mexico was named a World Heritage site. But monarchs continue to face challenges when trees in the forest are logged.

Usually, the butterflies head north in the second week of March. Will this be different with a changing climate? Scientists and ordinary people are working together to help find out. Citizen scientists tag butterflies and submit information on sightings to butterfly conservation organizations.

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