A journey of thousands of miles
Each autumn, monarchs from as far north as Canada fly up to three thousand miles to a few mountain forests in Mexico.
An American yard · Butterflies and moths
Monarch butterfly
Danaus plexippus
A large orange butterfly with black veins and a black border dotted with white.
- Size
- Wingspan 9 to 10cm
- Look for it
- April to October
- Where
- Fields, roadsides and gardens across North America, wherever milkweed grows
Glides after you on steady wings. Move your pointer and see.
When to look
Monarch
Good to know
Six things about the monarch
They have never been there
The butterflies that fly south are the great-grandchildren of those that left Mexico in spring. Nobody knows quite how they find the way.
Trees covered in butterflies
In Mexico they cluster on fir trees in such numbers that branches bend under their weight.
Poisonous on purpose
The caterpillars eat milkweed and keep its poison. The bright orange is a warning to birds.
One generation lives longer
Summer monarchs live a few weeks. The generation that migrates lives eight or nine months.
Tagged by volunteers
People put tiny numbered stickers on monarchs' wings so that their journeys can be traced.
The real thing
Photos of the monarch
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Photos are from Wikimedia Commons, used under the free licences shown. They have been resized, and cropped where they appear in link previews.
How to spot one
Look on milkweed in summer for the butterflies and their striped caterpillars. In autumn, watch for them drifting steadily south.
How to help
Planting milkweed helps directly. Monarch numbers have fallen a long way, and the forests where they spend the winter are protected.
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