A female monarch butterfly rested on a leaf of an apple tree in the American Midwest. She was on her way to Mexico.
It was early evening when I strolled through a small orchard. Here and there among fruiting trees were pairs of orange wings edged with black veining and white dots fluttering against the dimming sky. These wings belonged to monarch butterflies, and they appeared everywhere I turned. A lot of butterfly activity was taking place around one nearby apple tree in particular. Wondering what they were doing, I walked closer.
Red apples dotted the leafy branches. Some branches that reached down to the top of my head stood almost bare save for some brown leaves. But the branches were far from empty; they were lined with monarch butterflies. Branches dripped with the famous North American insects. With closed wings, the monarchs’ colors and silhouettes resembled dried leaves. When stirred, bright orange flashes occurred with their movements.
The apple tree was dotted with red apples and orange monarch butterflies alike. Monarchs only travel during the day. They spend their nights in roosts like this.
These monarchs were resting for the night before continuing their long southbound journey spanning thousands of miles across two or three countries in the morning. The apple tree stood in the American Midwest and marked one of many stops that the monarchs would make to refuel with nectar sourced from flowers or to roost in trees for the evening. Their destination of mountainous oyamel fir forests in central Mexico was waiting for them. (Monarchs in western North America overwinter in southern California.) At these locations, monarchs will line trees once again but in millions.
The monarch butterflies that populated this apple tree make up a unique generation of their kind. About three to four generations of monarchs with lifespans averaging four weeks in the spring and summer lead up to this generation by summer’s end. Unlike their parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents, the monarchs on the apple tree can live up to nine months. They will travel the farthest. They will hibernate. And they will migrate back north. Their migration northward is brief, and it is completed by following generations that spread throughout the United States and reach Canada.
I watched the butterflies with fascination. Each one was the result of a successful life cycle. They were signs that they and their ancestors had access to milkweed, the only plant on which monarch butterflies will lay their eggs and the only plant that the caterpillars will eat. They were also signs of successful migrations of previous generations who were able to hibernate in their overwintering grounds. As butterflies, the monarchs who roosted on this apple tree had and hopefully continue to have access to nectar offered from flowers and safe places to roost for the night during their travels. So much has led up to the monarchs of this generation, and the monarch butterflies of next year are counting on them.
Branches dripped with resting monarch butterflies. Their closed wings resembled leaves.
Seeing migrations during the actual process on any scale is so special. This apple tree is no longer host to masses of monarch butterflies these days. The monarchs have moved on, and it is bittersweet. Those monarchs, weighing less than a gram, will fly thousands of miles to their overwintering forests and inspire wonder along the way.