Illinois wildlife experts call this a magical time of year, as monarch butterflies have begun their migration from their northern breeding grounds to Central Mexico for the winter, with peak sightings in Illinois in September.
The journey starts in Canada and takes about two-and-a-half months. The arrival of the monarchs coincides with Día de Los Muertos, a significant Mexican cultural holiday honoring loved ones who have passed.
Allen Lawrence, associate curator of entomology at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum in Chicago, said some view monarchs as a symbol of spirits passing through to visit.
“It’s just an incredible phenomenon that connects three countries across North America together,” Lawrence explained. “The species’ survival really depends on all of us and it helps remind us of our own mortality, where we came from and who we have to honor.”
Monarchs fly during the day and roost at night, with migration tracked through citizen sightings. The Illinois Butterfly Monitoring Network is a statewide community project that partners with volunteers to collect population data on monarchs and other butterfly species. Lawrence pointed out people can aid monarch migration by creating milkweed habitats with nectar sources where the butterflies can stop along the way.
Only those known as “super generation” monarchs, which live significantly longer than non-migrating monarchs, journey thousands of miles to the mountains of Mexico. Lawrence noted population declines have been observed at some sites in Mexico but he stressed how resilient the butterflies are.
“They have an incredible capacity to recover and build up their populations following a poor year,” Lawrence observed. “If the weather is just right, if they have the plants that they need to feed on as caterpillars and adults, they have a remarkable capacity to recover.”
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed monarch butterflies be listed as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act. Factors like climate change, pesticide use, and habitat availability negatively affect monarch populations. But Lawrence added everyone can contribute to their conservation.
“It’s not all doom and gloom,” Lawrence emphasized. “Climate change is kind of the scary boogeyman here but if we increase habitat, reduce our pesticides, there’s a lot we can do to ensure their survival far into the future.”
Photo Caption: La migración de la monarca comienza tan al norte como Canadá y alcanza su pico en Illinois en septiembre. Photo Credit: Alex Makarov / Unsplash
