A Butterfly Migration Super Highway Could Bring Millions Of Monarchs Through Mississippi This Fall
By Daniella DiRienzo|Published October 20, 2019
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Daniella DiRienzo
Author
Though Daniella was born in New York and has lived in a couple of other states, Mississippi has been her home for more than 30 years. After graduating from the University of Southern Mississippi, Daniella began to hone her writing skills through various internships. In the years since, she’s had the privilege of having her articles appear in several publications, such as the Mississippi-based Parents & Kids Magazine. She’s also had the honor of interviewing actress Sela Ward for The Mississippi Arts and Entertainment Experience.
The fall season brings with it a slew of seasonal hues – but we’re not just talking about foliage. Each fall, millions of butterflies head south to escape the freezing winter temperatures in Canada and the northern U.S. When migrating, the butterflies travel along “flyways.” And since one of those flyways passes right though Mississippi’s Gulf Coast, it’s likely we’ll see a surge of the colorful butterflies. Take a look:
The monarch migration has been dubbed one of the greatest natural events on Earth, and we have to agree.
Just like birds, the monarch travels north in the summer and south in the winter. An amazing phenomenon, the monarch is the only butterfly known to make a two-way migration.
During the fall migration, millions of monarch butterflies leave their summer breeding grounds in the northern U.S. and Canada to “overwinter” in warmer temperatures.
Butterflies from western North America generally migrate to California, while those from eastern North America overwinter in the Sierra Madre Mountains in Mexico.
Once the monarchs arrive at their overwintering sites, they cluster together to stay warm. Clusters can vary in size and can contain tens of thousands of butterflies.
As you can see from the map, the monarchs from eastern North America travel via several flyways, which eventually merge together. It’s truly amazing that the butterflies know which way to go, especially when you consider that this migrating generation has never been to Mexico!
The Mississippi Gulf Coast plays a vital role in the monarch migration – and not just because a flyway passes through the area. The coast provides nectaring grounds for monarchs migrating to Mexico for the winter.
The Pascagoula Audubon Center in Moss Point does a lot of work to support the monarch population, including taking part in MonarchWatch, which is a database of monarch information that’s collected from citizens all over North America.
As part of the project, monarchs are captured, tagged with a sticker (without causing any harm), and released. The tagged monarchs are then re-captured, providing vital information about the population.
Want to do your part to help the monarch population? Monarchs depend on milkweed as a host plant for their eggs, so simply add some milkweed to your garden. In addition to milkweed, you can plant a variety of blooming flowers for the adult monarchs.
