Searching
for Monarchs
in the Sierra Chincua Sanctuary
by Elizabeth Howard
1)
Why
Look Down?
We were watching for dead butterflies. Butterflies litter the
ground underneath a colony, like confetti after a parade. We
watched the ground for colorful wings, in case the butterflies were above
us, camouflaged in the trees. When
a colony moves, the wings remain behind. Three times we came upon distinct
areas where there were thousands of wings, but no butterflies above--silent
testimony to the life and activity that was previously there. Because
the wings remain on the ground for days and even weeks after the butterflies
have gone, they leave a trail that tells the seasonal history of the colony.
Scientists studying habitat needs can learn which areas are important
to the butterflies by noting this litter of wings.
2)
Where Are the Butterflies?
- Pictures
B and E contain the colony of monarchs.
- You can
see single butterflies in Picture D, but not a colony. The colony is
over the hill in the direction the people are walking. The butterflies
in Picture D had flown away from the colonies.
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