Monarchs, Migration, and More

With the film Flight of the Butterflies opening today in MOSI's IMAX Dome theater, it seems like monarchs are on everyone's mind around here these days! These butterflies are among the most popular species we display in the Flight Encounter exhibit, and guests are always excited to see their easily-recognizable orange and black patterns. Here are a few facts about monarchs that may surprise you:

• It's easy to tell the difference between male and female monarchs. Guests are always interested to learn that though male and female monarchs appear to look the same, there's actually one easy difference that makes telling them apart simple: Male monarchs have scent glands on their lower wings, which look like black spots and are used to lure in females for mating. In contrast, females lack this black spot, and instead have thicker black veining on their lower wings. In this photo, the male is on top and the female on the bottom.

• Not every orange and black butterfly is a monarch. Monarchs use a kind of defense known as "mimicry", in which different species resemble each other to let predators known they are toxic. Species that resemble monarchs and are often mistaken for them include Queens, Viceroys, and Soldiers. Check back soon for an in-depth post on this mimicry complex, and click here to learn how to distinguish monarchs from queens, as shown in the photo below. 

• Mexico isn't the only place to find monarchs in the winter. Monarchs west of the Rocky Mountains generally migrate to the cool coastal forests of California, especially eucalyptus groves along the central coast. And monarchs in Central and South Florida don't migrate at all, giving us a regular year-round population. Learn more about migrating monarchs here, and watch for an upcoming post on Florida's own monarch population.

• Monarch butterflies and caterpillars taste terrible. All that milkweed monarch caterpillars consume does more than just help the caterpillar grow - it also makes the caterpillars and the adult butterflies distasteful to predators. Monarchs are able to isolate certain toxins from the sap of milkweed plants, storing them in their bodies to give would-be predators a nasty surprise, which makes those predators unlikely to try eating that species again. Learn more about distasteful monarchs (and mimcs) here.

We'll be posting much more on monarchs throughout the month of February, so stop by often to learn something new!