The Incredible Journey of the Butterflies

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Source: PBS Full Documentary

Related article: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2015/01/31/glyphosate-monarch-butterflies.aspx

The Incredible Journey of the Butterflies, chronicles the remarkable 2,000- to 3,000-mile annual migration of these iconic insects from Canada to a tiny microclimate in the highlands of Mexico. Only North American Monarchs make this migration.

Their destination is an area of only 60 square miles in central Mexico’s Transverse Neovolcanic Range. The timing couldn’t be more precise—the butterflies leave Mexico around March 21st each year and begin trekking north on September 21st—timed with the equinoxes!

This schedule is so predictable that their arrival is a highly anticipated event for the Mazahuan people of Mexico who believe the butterflies are the returning souls of their ancestors. Their arrival even marks a Mexican holiday, Dia de los Muertos or “Day of the Dead.”

The migration is a marvel of nature, especially for a small creature with such fragile wings. Scientists are still puzzling over how they are able to navigate thousands of miles—whether by Earth’s magnetic field or the angle of the sun or by some other mechanism—and how they have such finely tuned internal clocks that they can arrive en masse in one location on the same day each year.

They can only fly when conditions are perfect… too hot, they overheat. Too cold, they get sluggish and can’t flap their wings. Rainstorms can be deadly.

They must cross miles of open water—the Great Lakes—in constantly shifting winds, when they can’t see across to the other side. They must cover 50 miles a day with predators lurking everywhere. Danger also awaits them in Mexico, where their forest habitat continues to shrink from illegal logging.

Since all North American Monarchs overwinter in a highly confined region, one major winter storm could wipe out the entire species. For example, during one winter when the population was much more robust, a single storm killed off 75 percent of the Monarch population. We can’t control winter storms, but we CAN curb pesticide application. 

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2015/01/31/glyphosate-monarch-butterflies.aspx