Jersey Shore Magazine

J e r s e y s h o r e • F A L L / H O L I D A Y 2 0 1 9 42 JERSEY SHORE NATURE B utterflies have a unique ability to capture our imaginations. Adorned with bright colors in stunning patterns, with paper-thin wings and a gentle fluttering motion, they are seemingly touched by the divine. But their delicate appearance can belie their strength, particularly in the case of monarchs, which make the farthest migratory journey of any known insect. Flight or Plight? Super Monarchs, Migration, and Milkweed by Christine Menapace Super Monarchs While western monarchs travel down the coast of California, the eastern monarchs we encounter in late summer and fall (peak migration for our area is September 14 - 26) migrate all the way from southern Canada down to the oyamel fir for- ests of the Sierra Madre mountains in central Mexico. Dubbed "super monarchs," they may fly as much as fifty to one hundred miles per day, with a total journey of up to three thousand miles at completion. Super monarchs are distinct from the generations of monarchs that come before and after them. They are born in late summer, travel south, overwinter in Mexico, and then travel to the southern U.S. where they mate and lay eggs, in a lifecycle spanning roughly eight months. By contrast, the monarchs born in the south travel northward in much smaller distances and live much shorter lives, only about a month or so. They lay eggs a few days after emerging from their cocoon and it can take as many as four or even five generations to reach Canada and for another super monarch to be born. Clearly, the monarchs we encounter heading south in early fall are very special creatures. With such an immense journey in front of them, super monarchs are very reliant on finding the right food and shelter along the way. To com- plicate matters, monarchs will only lay their eggs on one type of plant— milkweed. As open spaces and wild meadows give way to building devel- opment, and pesticide use becomes widespread, monarch populations are at risk. According to the Center for Biological Diversity, monarchs have lost an estimated 165 million acres of breeding habitat in the U.S. due to herbicide use and development. While other factors, like weather in any given year, can affect numbers, in the past two decades eastern mon- archs have declined by more than continued on page 44 Raymond Hallgreen

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