Saturday, March 12, 2011

Migrating royals

The wasps tried to set up house in my back port lantern again the last few days. I filled the inside with a ball of aluminum foil to discourage them but a few of them were still crawling inside. So I covered up the openings. They seem puzzled, but I don't want them there this year.

Started me thinking of life cycles. And then a program on great animal migrations comes on. It verified what I had heard a few years ago about Monarch butterflies.


They all winter from October to March in the mountains of Mexico. When they head north in spring, it takes three or four generations to reach the end of their routes, in British Columbia and the upper American Midwest. A single generation born there then makes the return trip to Mexico for another winter in the mountains, and these will begin, but not complete the following year's journey. Amazing.

It always impresses me how our wonderful planet's life cycles not only require incredible exertion and energy, but how many of Earth's creatures are food for other terrestrials.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

When I was a kiddo, in NW Pennsylvania, I would catch the monarch catepillars and feed them, and watch them transform to chrysalis and then to adult. I didn't know then when they next flew off, they went to Mejico.

--Nathan

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