Question: Where do you think the monarchs that are flying in the Central Flyway in Texas came from?
Answer: Let's watch the animated migration map and see what it suggests.
(We'll have some direct evidence later, when we find out where the tagged butterfly that was dicovered in the Central Flyway in Texas came from!)
|
Texas
Flyways |
Dr. Bill Calvert and other monarch scientists think the two flyways in Texas occur because the monarchs come from different places. The timing of the migration is a clue about where the butterflies originated. The monarchs move through Texas in two "pulses."
- Central
Flyway: The first pulse travels down the Central Flyway. It
is earlier and larger.
- Origin of Butterflies: These butterflies probably come from the Midwestern states and, as our map shows, as far as Ontario, Canada. The butterflies arrive earlier because they probably haven't flown as far as those on the Coastal Flyway and/or they may have started to migrate earlier.
- Coastal
flyway: The second pulse moves along the Coastal flyway. It
is later and smaller. It begins about the time that
most monarchs have finished passing through the Central
Flyway, usally the 3rd week in October.
- Origin of Butterflies: These butterflies could come from the East and/or they could be butterflies that were blown off course, reached the Gulf of Mexico, and then followed the coastline westward. Evidence? Mr. Harlen Aschen captured a monarch on the Texas Coast that had been tagged in Ohio. See story >>
Did You Notice? Our animated map shows overnight roosts only. These are generally large concentrations of butterflies. The map does not show any monarchs on the Coastal Flyway yet. However, Monarchs are already migrating along the coast, as the map of all sightings shows.
- Watch both maps carefully. Let's see if we pick up the Coastal migration in the weeks ahead
