University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

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An endangered natural phenomenon, the annual migration of the monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) has been described as the most spectacular in the insect world.

The migration of the Northern American monarch has more in common with bird or whale migrations than it does with those of other butterfly species. Monarchs travel up to 3,000 miles—the only butterflies to make such a long, two-way migration every year—to the mountains of eastern Mexico for overwintering. Because their lifecycle is so short, each butterfly will make the trip only once, but a mysterious homing mechanism guides the autumn adults back to the same locations from which their ancestors traveled the previous spring. The Southern migration takes place between mid-August and early-November and the peak period for Buffalo's latitude is early to mid-September.

There are a number of different research projects focused on tracking monarch migration that have interesting and informative sites online. The Monarch Monitoring Project based in Cape May, N.J., has an informal page that summarizes the nearly 20-year history of the project and includes references to papers written by researchers involved in the monitoring. Monarch Watch, sponsored by the University of Kansas, has a more in-depth site that includes general information about monarchs, as well as specific information about their tracking project. They even have a blog.

There are a number of other ways to learn more about monarch butterflies and their migration. The U.S. Forest Service’s Monarch Butterfly site has pages on migration, habitat and conservation, as well as FAQs. The Library of Congress' Science Reference team also has compiled a list of Internet resources. And, the University Libraries' multi-search, available from the Libraries' home page, yields everything from streaming audio and transcripts of National Public Radio's “Science Friday” to scholarly articles on monarch migration.

However, the best one-stop shop for information on monarchs may be the Canadian Biodiversity Project at McGill University. Its monarch page provides a detailed overview of the species—with well-chosen illustrative images—as well a bibliography of sources.

Additionally, if you'd like to get your butterfly fix, the Butterfly Conservatory in Niagara Falls, Ontario, is open year-round. It's located north of Niagara Falls on the grounds of the Niagara Parks Botanical Gardens.

—Karen Walton Morse, University Archives