The following morning, while drinking our morning coffee, we watched for her...but she was not in the flower garden...she was nowhere in sight. I felt sad for a moment, we so enjoyed watching her all day yesterday. But we knew that she probably was on her way to fulfill her life's journey. She may have originated in our area or further north and then stopped at our place as a feeding stop. And now, she is headed south to a forest that she has never been to before. It is hard wired in her DNA to make this journey, no questions, she just knows where and when to go.
First, the story of a Monarch's life from a scientific standpoint...and then, Mona's personal version.
She is known as a special migratory generation or a Methuselah generation. Her life span will be from 6 - 9 months. She was born in late summer and will be one of the thousands of Monarchs that will make the journey. She will travel 20 - 30 miles per day. Her body will convert sugar from nectar into fat to sustain her for the long flight.
Other Monarchs that are born in early summer will only live 2 to 5 weeks. During their life span, they will mate, lay eggs and die.
Mona will not expend energy mating. It is called diapause - a state of suspended reproductive maturity. She will journey south and then spend roughly November through March resting at her destination most often in the Oyamel Fir Forests of Central Mexico. As March begins, she will wake up, mate, and start the journey back up north. After traveling for a few hundred miles, she will stop and lay her eggs on a milkweed plant and expire soon after. Her eggs will go through the metamorphic process and continue the journey up north. It takes 3 - 4 generations of Monarchs to complete this roundtrip journey.
This is an abbreviated version of the 3,000-mile journey that Monarch Butterflies make to keep their species alive and thriving generation after generation.
Please continue to read as Mona goes into the personal details of her exciting journey.
One sunny day...Mona awakens and decides today is the day...time to get out and experience life. When conditions are right - hormones, day light and temperature signals, she begins to work her way out of the chrysalis to discover her new world. She rests for a while to give the fluid in her abdomen time to move to the veins in her wings. When her wings are firm and dry...she slowly begins to move them. This is fun...wings stretched out, warm and ready to go. She takes off on her maiden journey. She tests out all of her equipment...so to speak. Woo - wee...I can fly up and down and across...maybe I'll try a barrel roll or a loop de do - or, maybe not. I'm an enthusiastic beginner Monarch. This is my first day out of my chrysalis. I need to save some things to do on my long migration journey. This is all fun and good enough for now.
She is feeling kind of hungry and starts looking around for a food source. I'm thinking...something sweet. While cruising around, she spots a very welcoming, colorful flower garden and decides she would like to land there and look around. All of the colors and scents make her happy. There are already bees there on most of the blossoms. Ah, I like this one, it's purple and after tasting the flower with her feet, she extends and inserts her straw like appendage called a proboscis into the flower and sucks up the sweet nectar. I could spend all day here with my bee friends in this beautiful garden. The sun is warm, the air is sweet..I love it here.
It is September. Hopefully it will stay warm enough for me to feed and get ready for my journey which will begin as soon as I am fueled up and all systems are a 'go'. I will fly for 3,000 miles and when I arrive at my destination, I will sun and rest for a few months and hopefully really get to know other butterflies. I think I am supposed to select a special guy to be the father of my future babies.
I notice other butterflies that look like me flying overhead. I have been eating nectar all day now and I've tested out my compass and all of my equipment. I think I'm ready to follow the group that I see gathering and flying around me.
It is starting to get dark. I see many butterflies gathering under a nearby pine tree. I'm going to fly over there and see what they are doing. I fly into the pine tree, and all of the other butterflies are hanging around. That looks like fun...let me just find a spot to attach myself and hang out with my new friends. These two butterflies look nice; I will try to scooch myself in between these two seemingly friendly butterflies. The didn't or couldn't move, so I went on down the line and found a little spot for myself...it was perfect for me. It seems like I just got settled in and before I knew it...the sun was coming up. I felt rested, relaxed and ready to go. All of my new friends were starting to move their wings back and forth slowly. And then, several at a time would take off into the wide-open sunny skies. Time to go Mona...flap, flap, flap...take off. Okay Mona, you're doing it...but you've got to flap a little faster and stronger...the others seem to be quite a bit ahead of me. This isn't a race, but it kind of feels like one...so, I kick it into high gear...all of a sudden, a warm breeze lifts me up and moves me along...I love it...what a warm, fuzzy feeling.
We are all just sailing away for a few hours and then the front of the group decides that we need to stop, rest and eat. So, we all settle onto a tree and it feels good. The warm sun, a nice breeze and some wildflowers below...heaven.
This appears to be our daily routine...wake up after a night's rest...stretch a bit, take off and look for nectar and fly for a few hours...over and over until we find a place to rest for the night. Perfect vacation. I even begin to feel like I am gaining some weight from all of the snacking.... that does happen on vacation...right?
The sun feels warmer each day and there seem to be more flowers from which to choose. Good thing I followed this group - I imagine that it's getting rather cool each night where I originated.
One morning on our daily flight, I thought I could smell something deliciously spicey...different but wonderful. I could hear some really fun music. I felt like I could fly and shake my hindwing a bit also. WE'RE HERE... some of the other butterflies said...WE MADE IT.....HURRAH FOR ALL OF US. Now, it's time to relax. We absolutely made the long trek...So great for all of us...also great for future generations of Monarch Butterflies. We are all very proud and have earned this vacation in sunny Mexico. We all know that we don't live forever but for now, we're going to enjoy our surroundings and our new friends. We did our part to continue our species that makes our world so much more beautiful and interesting.
