Monarch Butterflies

Created By:
Maloney,D.

About the Image

Each year millions of Monarch Butterflies (Danaus plexippus) migrate from Southern Canada to their wintering grounds in Mexico and California. Millions of butterflies would cover the trees, but no one could explain this phenomenon until a researcher named F. A. Urquhart who in 1937 began tagging the wings of the butterflies, and tracking their migration.

Thirteen years later, Urquhart founded the Insect Migration Association, and enlisted the help of 3,000 volunteers to help track the insects. His project continued for over 20 years, in that time whenever a volunteer, found or saw a marked Monarch, they would contact Urquhart.

Urquhart's results were outstanding. One butterfly tagged on September 18th 1957, in Ontario, Canada was spotted again four months later in San Luis Potosi, Mexico a trek of 1,870 miles.

The images below were taken on October 9th, 2006. It shows a group of Monarch Butterflies that are in the early stages of their fall migration, interacting with a Garden Mum (Chrysanthemums). The photo is an example of how organisms interact with each other and other species, as part of a project for Biology 597b Organisms: Diversity and Interactions.

Steven D. Brewer -- sbrewer@bio.umass.edu
DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST