Septmeber 3, 1961 - The Monarch ButterflyMIGRATING MONARCH BUTTERFLIES
Exclusive Sunday Review Sketch by Dennis Puleston of Brookhaven
Focus on Nature
"It surely makes an interest-
ing column when ever we can
get our sketch and text done
by the same person. When you
read the following article con-
cerning one of our common
butterflies, you will realize what
I mean." ... ... ... ... —p.s.
THE MONARCH BUTTERFLY
By Dennis Puleston,
Brookhaven
In my youthful beginnings as a
naturalist, when I collected but-
terflies around my home in Eng-
land, I can recall the many 'hours
I spent examining the color plates
in my insect books, dreaming of
the rarities I hoped to catch.
There was one in particular that
attracted me, a large, handsome,
orange and black creature known
as the Milkweed Butterfly. Upon
reading the descriptive text, how-
ever, I realized how slight were
my chances of capturing t h is
fine species, for it was a native
of America, rarely seen in Eng-
land. Little did I know that I
Would some day live in an area
where this insect wound be actual-
ly common, for this Milkweed
Butterfly of England is n o n e
other than the Monarch, so fam-
War to us all on Long Island.
Yet my early thrill over pic-
tures of this species, common as
it is in these parts, has never
quite left me, and when I learned
more of its remarkable life his-
tory my interest in it has been
enhanced. The Monarch is a great
wanderer; it had found its way
from the Hawaiian Islands, where
fit was introduced, to such remote
Pacific areas as Formosa and
New Zealand. In the Atlantic, it
appears regularly in the Azores
and Cape Verde Islands. Most
probably, it is from these islands
that the British visitors wander.
A few are seen there a l m o s t
every year; yet the species can
never establish itself, since its
caterpillars feed only on milk-1
weed, and this plant does not
grow in Europe. So every Milk-
weed Butterfly found there has
crossed hundreds, and perhaps
thousands, of miles of ocean to
reach its destination. It is dif-
ficult to imagine how such an
apparently fragile creature,
weighing only a small fraction
of an ounce, could make such a
journey, yet it certainly does.
While its occurrence in these
far places can be considered ac-
cidental, the Monarch is one of
the, few butterflies in this country
to make a regular migration
every year. This southward move-
ment takes place in the I a t e
er and early fall, and one of its
favored routes is along the
dunes and beaches of Long
Island's south shore. At this sea-
son, on a favorable day, Mon-
archs can be seen passing by in
hundreds, headed purposefully
westward towards the New Jersey
shore, which they also follow. Oc-
casionaiiy they will stop to feed
on nectar from the goldenrod blos-
soms, thereby fortifying them-
selves for the long journey to the
Gulf States land the Caribbean,
where they winter.
The flight of this butterfly is
seemingly effortless; after a few
flaps of the powerful wings it
sails steadily with the momentum
it has thus gained. It takes par -
ticular advantage of the strong
northerly winds that occur at this
time of year; on such days the
Monarch traffic is markedly
heavy. Sometimes many thou-
sands will cluster for the night
in a grove of trees, until the
branches are covered with them.
In the spring, the northward
movement is a more leisurely
affair; some individuals stop en
route to mate, lay their eggs,
and die. Their offspring continue
the journey, even far into Canada,
where, in turn, they breed.
The eggs are pale green, cone -
shaped, and ribbed. The cater -
pillar, tiny when hatched, grows
rapidly as it e a t s milkweed
leaves almost continuously. When
it has reached full size a f t e r
several weeks of voracious feed-
ing, it is a handsome creature,
banded with rich yellow and
creamy white, the bands divided
by transverse black stripes which
give it a tigerish appearance.
Near the front end of the body,
two peculiar black filaments pro-
purpose of these adornments is
not fully understood.
The milkweed foliage on which
the Monarch feeds has given it
a valuable defense against the
birds which prey on many other
insects. Apparently the plant gives
a bitter taste to this butterfly,
rendering it unattractive as a
food source. So successful is this
defense that another species bene-
fi -ts from it; although the Viceroy
Butterfly does not feed on milk-
weed, birds ignore it because of
its striking similarity in appear-
ance to the Monarch. Examples
of such imitative coloration, which
is known as protective mimicry,
can be found throughout th e
world of Nature.
When the caterpillar is ready
to pupate, or turn into a chrysalis,
it climbs to the underside of a
.leaf and suspends itself, h e a d
down, by a strong thread. Slowly
the skin splits down the back,
to reveal the pale green chry-
salis underneath. In this i n e r t
stage, the insect remains f or
several weeks, but in the mean-
time, a miraculous transforma-
tion is taking place inside the
creature. Gradually it turns dark-
er, until the black - veined, orange
wings of the butterfly can be
clearly seen, although they are
still shrunken and deformed. Then
a split 'appears at the lower end
of the shell, and painfully the
butterfly emerges, to cling to the
empty case while its wings dry
and expand. Within an hour, the
butterfly is ready to take flight
and complete the life c y c l e
through which -the species must
pass, in order that it can con-
tinue to enrich our gardens,