Fragile Flyers
Monarch Butterfly Migration
September winds from the north and northwest gently push millions of migrating monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) to the Atlantic coast. Many are funneled southward through the Cape May peninsula. Thus begins the 2000-mile journey to their winter home in the forests of the Sierra Madre Mountains of central Mexico.
The following spring they mate, the males die, and the females journey back to North America, laying eggs on the milkweed plants as they go. They may travel as far north as the Gulf coast states before they too die. The next generation continues the northward migration until once again, the monarchs repopulate the entire region of the milkweed plant.
Four to five generations may live and reproduce throughout the summer. However, the last generation, along with all the other monarchs from eastern North America, seek refuge from the cold of winter and begin the migration cycle once again.
Marker can be reached from Lighthouse Avenue, on the left when traveling south.
Courtesy hmdb.org
