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Monarch Butterfly’s Mysterious Life By: William Waterway (excerpted from: Water Voices from Around The World [www.watervoices.com]) Insects comprise more than 60% of all species on Earth. It is estimated that 30 million species of insects exist while only a little over 1 million are known to science. Out of the known 1 million species, about 1/10th of 1% are considered pests. Out of all the insect species, one that is most evident and mysterious is the Monarch Butterfly. According to fossil recent information discovered in the United States, ancestors of the Monarch Butterfly existed in large numbers 35 million years ago. After surviving tens of millions of years of environmental upheavals, ice ages, and severe climate change Monarch Butterflies are threatened with extinction due to toxic poisons and recent habitat destruction. Today, scientific researchers remain befuddled as they make attempts at unraveling the mysterious behavioral and reproductive patterns of the Monarch Butterfly. Each spring and summer, hundreds of millions of Monarch Butterflies migrate from parts of Mexico and southern California. As they flitter and flutter from one plant to another, they pollinate billions of plants crucial for the survival of humankind. Driven by unknown forces, they traverse most of the United States and portions of southern Canada. As each successive generation migrates northward through the summer, and as only one long-lived generation returns in the fall, Monarchs drink water from untold billions of rain drops; springs; rivers; brooks; lakes; ponds; rainfall puddles, and other sources. Besides surviving threats of weather and predation – Monarchs must also survive destruction of their habitat and food sources through expanding agriculture and development. As well, there is the threat of chemicals from aerial exposure and in their drinking water from industrial and agricultural discharges, and polluted atmospheric fallout. The presence of Monarchs on Earth provides us with a life form that is beautiful, useful, and mysterious. Most importantly, Monarchs are considered to be efficient pollinators for many flowering plants that have evolved in harmony with the butterflies over millions of years. Today, the Monarch Butterfly is a life form whose transformative life cycle befuddles scientists - for much of the Monarch’s behavior and magical metamorphosis from egg to butterfly is shrouded in mystery. The Transformative Life Cycle In spring, Monarchs leave their southern wintering grounds and migrate north into Southern United States. As they fly north – they exclusively seek out milkweed in the genus Asclepias and other genera of viny milkweeds. These are the only plants that Monarch larvae feed on. Adult females will deposit about 400 eggs on the underside of milkweed leaves. Each egg is about the size of the period at the end of this sentence. In 3 to 12 days the eggs hatch into larvae that begin feeding on the poisonous milkweed. The milkweed toxins are absorbed into the skin of the larvae as a form of natural defense. Since not all species of milkweed produce poisonous cardiac glycosides, and given the fact that out of 100 species of milkweed - some tend to be more poisonous than others, Monarch larvae and butterflies will carry various levels of protective toxins. The larval stage lasts about 2 weeks, as the caterpillars shed their skin (moult) five times and grow to a plump 2 inches in length, and weigh about 2,700 times more than when hatched. During its fifth moult, the caterpillar attaches itself head down to a branch. In a matter of hours the caterpillar will shed its skin and form itself into a large water-drop shaped womb (called a pupa or chrysalis). In about 2 weeks – a mysterious, little understood metamorphosis takes place as the caterpillar transforms itself into a majestic butterfly. When the adult monarch butterfly emerges from the pupa – its wings are wet and its abdomen is engorged with fluid. While hanging upside down, the butterfly will inflate the veins in its wings with the abdominal fluid, and then rest while its wings dry and its abdomen shrinks. The milkweed poison once stored in its caterpillar skin will now be fixed in the butterfly’s ectoskeleton and wings. Soon after, the Monarch will instinctively fly northward. In about 8 days the butterfly will develop sexual organs, mate, and deposit eggs on milkweed. When these eggs hatch and become butterflies – they too will continue to fly northward. The Migration Mystery As they fly north, Monarch Butterflies drink water from streams, dew, fog, and rainfall, and feed on the nectar of various flowers. They are considered by scientists to be important pollinators. Each adult will live for about 4 to 5 weeks. After about 4 or 5 generations of flying northward, some Monarchs will find themselves as far north as Southeastern Canada. On a related note, the Monarch Butterfly is one of the few insects with the ability to survive a transatlantic crossing. At one time they were common in Bermuda, but due to milkweed eradication programs, are becoming endangered. Sometimes, under certain wind conditions, Monarchs can end up in the far southwest of Great Britain. The Monarch Butterflies that hatch at the end of summer are different than the generations of summer Monarchs that lived before them during the northern migration. Upon hatching, the late summer Monarchs’ sexual organs do not develop. Instead of mating and having offspring, they flutter around feeding on nectar and drinking water, and after two to three months they begin to flock together. This generation of Monarchs will survive for 7 to 8 months, and is called the “Methuselah generation” – named after the patriarchal figure in the Bible who lived 969 years. In human terms, given an average life of 75 years, this is like having a generation of children who live for 525 years. During September and October, flocks of Monarchs fly south from their birthing locations in Canada and the United States; along the way they will drink water from many streams, ponds, lakes and rain puddles, and feed on flower nectar. The distance some butterflies will travel to reach their wintering grounds in Mexico (also, Cuba, and the California towns of Santa Cruz, Newark, and Pacific Grove) - is between 2,000 and 4,800 linear kilometers (1,200 to 3,000 miles). Monarch’s, which are also known as the “Wanderer Butterfly” in Australia, don’t fly in a straight line – so they may actually travel distances of 6,000 to 15,000 kilometers (3,600 to 9,000 miles). The mystery of the Monarch Butterfly migration has two dimensions 1. We do not know why each generation of Monarch’s born during the summer continues to fly northward. And, we do not know how Monarchs determine what direction to navigate. Current theories include the Monarch using one or several of the following: internal magnetic compass; sun and stars; rotation of Earth; sensing of Earth's internal iron crystal; genetic encoding; weather patterns; plant sensing, and other factors. 2. “Methuselah generation” Monarchs are born in northern latitudes, and are the great-great-great grandchildren of ancestors who took the arduous journey from the northern latitudes the previous year. How these Monarchs know how to fly south and find the small geographical areas that have unique microclimates for their winter survival remains a mystery. Even more of a mystery, is that hibernating Monarchs prefer to gather in the exact same trees as their ancestors. Even though theories abound, it is thought that a socalled “ghost memory” of sorts is operative in the Methuselah generation. “Ghost memory” [WEM coined word] is the imprinted memory from one’s ancestors. In a fashion, this adds a spiritual dimension as to how one’s ancestors may continue to perpetuate their presence on Earth, while at the same time embedding genetic information for the survival of their offspring far into the future. This ghost memory may actually be inherited information imprinted into the DNA of the Monarchs through the hydrogen bonding process akin to water. Perhaps, when key cosmic and environmental triggers present themselves – this ghost memory becomes activated, and the Monarchs know when and where to go in order to find the safe winter haven of their ancestors. The Hibernation Water Story The Monarch’s hibernate in the temperate pine and oyamel fir forests situated high in Mexico’s mountain region of Michoacan. It is unknown as to how many hundreds or thousands of years the Monarchs have hibernated in the same location. Monarch hibernation locations in Mexico were first discovered in modernity on January 12, 1975. However, as evidenced in the art and myths of Mexico’s ancient civilizations, it is believed there was knowledge of these hibernation sites for thousands of years. Upon arrival at their hibernation sites in late October and early November, Monarchs’ begin to live off of stored fat and nutrients from their flight south. Over the next 4 months of hibernation, their only nutrient intake will be water from rain puddles, and the brooks and streams that make up the Balsas river basin. If the weather is cloudy and cold, the butterflies will stay huddled together in the trees for warmth and protection. However, once the sun comes out, the air fills with the magical sight and musical tone of millions and millions of butterfly wings as they take to the air for exercise and to drink water from nearby streams. Special conditions found only in small pockets of the oyamel fir forest are capable of creating the necessary microclimates that support survival of hibernating Monarchs. Local environmental factors such as humidity; wind exposure; temperature range; tree density, height and canopy; sunlight, and easy access to quality drinking water – help form the unique microclimate required by the Monarchs. The location of the oyamel fir forest in a humid temperate zone makes it part of a complex, sensitive, interdependent ecosystem. Besides salamanders; snakes; hummingbirds; axolotls; tree frogs; mice; rabbits; lizards; 130 bird species; and an assortment of other amphibian, reptile and animal inhabitants – the moist oyamel fir forest floor is also home to a thriving population of mosses and mushrooms. The mushrooms alone make a significant contribution to the health of the pine and fir trees where the Monarchs roost. As rodents and other influences scatter mushroom spores across the forest floor, the spores help nourish the secondary roots of the pine and fir trees. With the help of these mushroom filaments – the forest trees are able to obtain nutrients and manufacture protoplasm from the soils for healthy growth. The mushrooms also produce underground fruits that rodents dig up, eat, and scatter around the forest – thus helping to aerate and fertilize the moist soils. In most years, the humidity and other environmental factors of the Monarch’s forest is relatively stable from November to mid-February, and the butterfly population remains stationary. However, as temperatures rise in the second half of February, the humidity of the high mountain forests decreases. When this occurs, the butterflies leave their roosts on the high slopes, and move to lower and more humid elevations closer to the flowing streams of water. At the end of February and in March, hundreds of millions of Monarchs take to the air to perform mating acrobatics. When successful, physical mating is consummated on the ground. Soon after, the cycle of the Monarch Butterfly continues as the Methuselah generation flies north into the southern United States, lays their eggs on milkweed leaves, and dies after enjoying a relatively long life.