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Monark butter fly4/7/2023 Adult monarchs start to move south from their northern breeding sites in. The Conservancy’s land stewards are also helping monarch populations by planting local and native species of milkweed at many preserves across North America. The monarch butterfly is the only butterfly that annually migrates north and south. This data will help researchers understand if monarch migration patterns are changing due to climate change or habitat loss. TNC is encouraging citizen scientists in a number of U.S. In the southern coastline of California, the stands of eucalyptus trees, Monterey pines and Monterey cypresses are in danger of being cut down due to the rate of land development in the surrounding area. These areas are being targeted for new roads, housing developments and agriculture expansion. There are only eleven to fourteen mountaintops in Mexico where these butterflies can find a safe haven to wait out the harsh winters in temperate climates. There are a number of threats to monarch butterflies including habitat loss, climate change and agricultural pesticide use that is reducing milkweed populations-a plant on which the monarch lays its eggs. Researchers estimate that a jaw-dropping 970 million monarchs have vanished since 1990. Intermediary generations have an adult lifespan of only 4-5 weeks, but the final annual generation lives 5-7 times longer, making the long migration and then surviving to overwinter, mate and return north. They begin migrating singly and then are slowly funneled into flocks as they converge on roosting sites.Īs they fly south, the butterflies may fly as high as 4,000 feet while riding thermals, averaging a stately 12 miles per hour.
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