Monarch Butterfly - An example of generational instinct

The monarch butterfly is an amazing example of generational design and instinct. In one season of the year, four generations of monarchs travel up to 3,000 miles from Mexico to Canada and back. It begins in early spring, when monarchs from the super generation (which overwintered in Mexico) begin the journey northward. They lay eggs in the southern United States, and these eggs hatch into the first generation. Then for the second and third generation, they continue moving northward covering around 500 miles each generation living for about 2-6 weeks as adults. Then in late summer the fourth generation is born, called “super generation”.

Unlike its predecessors, this generation doesn’t reproduce immediately but instead embarks on the epic journey back to Mexico, where its great-grandparents once resided. This “super generation” lives for about eight months, completing the cycle and laying the groundwork for the next year’s migration. [1]

 

 

1. From an evolutionary standpoint, how might monarchs ‘remember’ a route their great-grandparents travelled without direct teaching?

2.How would they know the exact spot of their ancestral home?

3. How do you think the monarch butterfly’s intricate migration cycle evolved to such precision without any guiding intelligence?

4. Why do you think the “super generation” lives eight times longer than the other generations, and what mechanisms might have led to this unique lifespan adaptation?

5. What factors do you believe could drive such a detailed, multi-generational migratory pattern in butterflies?

[1] Urquhart, F. A., & Urquhart, N. R. Autumnal Migration Routes of the Eastern Population of the Monarch Butterfly in North America to the Overwintering Site in the Neo-Volcanic Plateau of Mexico.