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Challenge Question #8 Paul Cherubini (paulcher@concentric.net) Mon, 06 Apr 1998 19:25:34 +0000 Messages sorted by: [ date ][ thread ][ subject ][ author ] Next message: Laytonville Middle School: "challeng 8" Previous message: Greenstone, Robyn: "Challenge Question #8" My experience has been that approximately 20-30 minutes after sunset, monarch butterflies will not fly no matter how warm and calm field conditions may be. If, on a warm, calm, full moonlit night, the butterflies are shaken from a roost or tossed into the air the butterflies soon crash into into nearby objects or the ground - they do not seem to be physically capable of "seeing" and maintaining oriented flight back to nearby trees. Therefore, I am highly skeptical of the concept that monarch butterflies might be capable of remaining air borne at night and in this way, possibly cross the Atlantic ocean or Gulf of Mexico. I believe trans-oceanic journeys are possible only if the butterflies are lucky enough to find and stay with a ship, or hotscotch from one oil drilling platform (or land island) to another. Keeping up with a ship is actually more difficult for the butterflies than it might sound because modern ships move at roughly 20-30 mph and this creates gusty, turbulent winds on the deck. Paul Cherubini paulcher@concentric.net Next message: Laytonville Middle School: "challeng 8" Previous message: Greenstone, Robyn: "Challenge Question #8"