News Update: May 29 , 2008        Name _____________________ 

North America's Two Migratory Monarch Populations

As this map shows, there are two main monarch populations in North America. (A population is a group of organisms of the same species that occupies a particular space at a particular time.)

The Rocky Mountains provide a barrier for complete intermixing of North America's two populations. (Recent tagging studies have shown that there is some mixing between the eastern and western populations.)

Distribution Map

This map is called a "distribution" map. It shows where monarch butterflies live and migrate in North America.

The eastern monarch population migrates to and from central Mexico. Into how many more U.S. states and Canadian provinces will the monarchs migrate this spring?

Why do you think the eastern monarch population migrates only as far as this map shows?

Based on what you've learned this year, label the map to show where monarchs are during each season of the year (winter, spring, summer and fall).