Beauty on the Wing: Life Story of the Monarch Butterfly

Funding for this program has been provided by the following Lauren Mercadante the John Hauck Foundation New England Biolabs Roberta Christian Susan Frey Marion Frost the Forsythe-Fandetti family Jonathan and Sally Golding Peter and Bobbi Kovner Heidi and John Shiver Joy Vanbuskirk And by the generous support of many other donors.

A complete list is available at APTonline.org (gentle guitar music) - [Kim] Each year in late summer as the arcing angle of sunlight descends lower in the sky and the winds shift from west to east, the wondrous southward migration of the Monarch butterfly takes place in communities throughout North America.

(winds blowing softly) (birds chirping) By the millions and millions, the intrepid Monarchs' journey thousands of miles to volcanic mountain forests, located in the heart of Mexico.

The most magical thing is that this migration happens in our midst, unfolding in backyards, farms, meadows, fields, and along the shoreline wherever milkweed and wildflowers grow.

(insects chirping) (insects chattering) (bird cawing) The story of the Atlantic Coast Monarchs begins in the working fishing port of Gloucester.

Well known for her age-old fishing industry, Schooner Festival, her rich artistic heritage, Italian feasts and fiestas, and stunning coastline, Gloucester is located on the Cape Ann peninsula, on the northern coast of Massachusetts.

As are most regions along the length of the eastern seaboard, Cape Ann lies within a largely unrestricted north-south corridor for migratory species of birds and butterflies.

This means that birds, Monarchs, and other insects travel along the Atlantic Flyway without being impeded by either mountain ranges or very large bodies of water to cross, which would slow or prevent their movement.

(birds cawing) There is a tremendous sense of urgency in this great movement of life.

(birds cawing) (birds chirping) Whether traveling by land or by sea, wildlife must reach their seasonal destination while life-sustaining food is abundant.

(birds chirping) (insects chirping) During springtime, northward migrating butterflies, such as Red Admirals, arrive on Cape Ann, along with dozens of species of butterflies, shorebirds, and song birds.

(bird squawks) Some shorebirds, like Bonaparte's Gulls, stop to rest and refuel before heading to breeding grounds further north, to the boreal forests of Canada and Alaska, and for some species, like the Great Blue Heron, Cape Ann is their breeding home.

Many American Robins travel great distances while others remain year-round.

Mute Swans partially migrate, moving from body of water to body of water within a region, to forage for food and to breed.

(birds chirping) Local populations of birds and butterflies thrive as well.

The Wild Turkey is a bird that lives its entire life cycle eating, mating, and raising young within a much smaller area.

The fritillaries, both the Silver-bordered and Great Spangled don't migrate, nor does the Black Swallowtail.

The Buckeye and Clouded Sulphur migrate shorter distances.

And some silk moths, like the giant night-flying Luna, spend all but two weeks of their life, not on the wing, but as a caterpillar and cocoon.

(insects chirping) The Monarch butterfly is part of the extraordinary South, Central, and North American great migration of birds, butterflies, and wild creatures, always in search of plentiful food on which to rear the next generation.

Within this expansive north-south corridor there is a world of beauty to discover in the wondrous scheme of survival in migration.

(wind blowing softly) Every Monarch butterfly migration is different from the previous years.

The precise time of the butterfly's arrival is unpredictable, varying widely because of weather temperature fluctuations and wind currents.

(birds chirping) It will take four to five successive generations of Monarchs migrating northward to reach the butterfly's breeding grounds, but only one generation will make the long journey south to the Monarch's wintering grounds in Mexico.

(birds chirping) (wind blowing softly) While some northern communities may experience larger numbers of butterflies, others will observe far fewer.

Some years the southward migration that takes place along the shores of Cape Ann has been relatively light, and the butterfly's time spent is short lived, with a small passel here and a small passel there.

(bird squawks) The years when Cape Ann experiences a light migration, the migration through Cape May, which is 400 miles south and another gathering point on the Monarch's migratory route, may be abundant.

In other years, the Monarchs southward migration through Cape Ann is spectacular, and their movement across Massachusetts Bay as they pour onto the shores of Gloucester's Eastern Point is awe inspiring.

Perhaps the Lighthouse is their beacon, and a portal to her shores.

(insects chattering) After arriving, the butterflies spend their days refueling and building their fat reserves by drinking nectar from the Seaside Goldenrod and asters growing in nearby marsh and meadow.

The wildflowers provide life-sustaining nourishment needed to reach their next destination.

(insects chirping) From earliest recorded history the butterfly has represented life's momentous transformations, and butterflies continue to be associated with spiritual rebirth and renewal.

The butterfly's metamorphosis from caterpillar to adult, along with their graceful beauty and vibrant wing patterning has long inspired poets and artists across many cultures.

(birds chirping) Local people of Mexico believe Monarchs represent the souls of the departed, returning to Earth to be remembered by their ancestors.

Across the continent, today we celebrate the poetry and majesty of the uniquely North American phenomenon of the Monarch butterfly.

There are no other butterflies on Earth that travel this vast distance, and it is a fascinating ecological link that connects Mexico with Canada and nearly every geographic region within the United States.

(insects chirping) Each living creature is bound to Earth by many threads, weaving an intricate design in the web of life.

The Monarch is a marvel of the most intricate behavior and the butterfly's unique migration is only one aspect of the extraordinary life story of the Monarch Butterfly.

(cricket chirps) The little noticed flowering plant, milkweed, is as much a strand of the Monarch's story as is the butterfly's great migration.

Milkweed flowers in a variety of colors and shapes, and its sweet nectar provides fuel for myriad species of butterflies and bees.

(cricket chirps) But it is the leaves and buds of milkweed, and only milkweed, onto which the female must deposit her eggs.

(cricket chirps) (insects chattering) All butterflies go through complete metamorphosis, in four distinct stages, beginning with a very tiny egg.

The egg hatches and a caterpillar, or larva emerges.

The larva voraciously eats and eats, rapidly outgrowing its outer skeleton, molting four to five times.

When the caterpillar has completed its larval stage, it pupates and becomes a chrysalis.

The chrysalis cannot move or eat.

(insects chattering) Inside the chrysalis case the caterpillar changes into an adult.

When the chrysalis opens, the beautiful winged butterfly emerges.

(insects chattering) (bird squawks) Because of the large size of the Monarch butterfly, the different stages of its life cycle are easy to observe, especially when compared to a very small butterfly like the American Copper.

Like all insects, butterflies have an exoskeleton, three body regions: head, thorax, and abdomen, three pairs of segmented legs, one pair of antennae, and most have two pairs of wings.

The scientific name for butterflies, moths, and skippers is Lepidoptera, which means, "scaled wings."

They are distinguished from all other species of insects because their wings and bodies are covered with overlapping scales, and because they have a very long drinking tube called a proboscis.

(insects chirping) The Monarch is a member of the Brushfoot Family of butterflies.

The Monarch has four long clearly visible legs and two much shorter legs, called brushfoots, which when not in use, are tucked up in the scales of the thorax next to the proboscis.

The brushfoots are used to clean their proboscis.

(crickets chirping) (lively festive music) (wind blowing softly) Departing Mexico in early spring, Monarchs are pulled by sun and wind, in synchronicity with the Earth's energy.

(birds chirping) They begin to arrive on Cape Ann by early summer.

(birds cawing) Patches of wildflowers growing in meadow and marsh are a welcome invitation to the butterflies, and northern gardens, too, are planted with nectar-rich flowers for traveling butterflies.

(birds chirping) During warm summer days, the Monarchs soar through the meadows, looking for a mate and pausing to drink nectar from the wildflower tapestry below.

As the sun begins to set, the butterflies nestle quietly in the branches of neighboring trees.

With folded wings, only the pale orangey-tan undersides are visible.

Mimicking dry leaves and pine cones, camouflage from hungry birds is afforded.

(cricket chirps) (bees humming) Amongst the tumble of vines and wildflowers, morning finds the Monarchs basking with their wings stretched wide, soaking in the solar rays.

The sun warms their flying muscles and once sufficiently warmed, the Monarchs take flight and spend their days searching for a mate and nectaring at the blossoms.

With her sharp, claw-like feet, called tarsi, she investigates the yellow disk flowers in the center of a zinnia.

Her spiky tarsi can grip the flower petals and also sense nectar.

(birds chirping) She unfurls her long drinking straw and probes each tiny yellow floret, sipping heartily.

(birds chirping) More traveling Monarchs join the scene.

They prefer nectar from the buddleias.

Noontime and the Hummingbird Clearwing moth stops by for a drink of nectar.

Here comes a female Great Spangled Fritillary looking for violet plants on which to deposit her eggs.

It's a party for the pollinators, and all are invited.

(birds chirping) All day long Monarchs dance their aerial courtship dance, pausing briefly to nectar before commencing the dance anew.

Shadows lengthen and still the Monarchs are zing zanging in the garden.

Dusk steals the sky and the elusive Summer Azure is spied on the Meadowsweet, but for a blink of an eye.

(insects chirping) The setting sun stirs cool evening breezes, and only then do the Monarchs settle into the surrounding wildflowers and trees for their evening rest.

(birds chirping) The males intently patrol patches of milkweed looking for females.

He sports two small black pockets, one on each hind wing, and each pocket is filled with pheromones, or what scientists actually call love dust.

(birds chirping) The female's wings are smokier colored, with thicker wing venation than the males more thinly veined wings.

Spiraling skyward in courtship, male and female meet.

From his two black pockets, he sprinkles her with his love dust.

If she is receptive, he pulls her to him with his tarsi, and they join together, abdomen to abdomen.

She folds her wings, and he carries her to safety amongst the wildflowers and treetops, where they stay coupled together for several hours.

During this time, the male passes a spermatophore to the female.

A spermatophore is a package of sperm and nutrients needed to produce and deposit eggs.

The sperm then fertilizes each egg as it passes through the female's egg-laying tube.

In a few hours she will be ready to oviposit her eggs.

(gentle music) The female investigates each succulent milkweed plant, seeking only the freshest and most tender foliage and buds on which to lay her eggs.

Tightening her abdomen and curling it around to the underside, she deposits one glistening gilded drop at a time, simultaneously attaching egg to leaf with quick-drying, sticky glue.

(gentle music) On average, the female Monarch Butterfly oviposits 300 to 500 eggs during her lifetime.

(gentle guitar music) The miniature golden dome is no larger than a pinhead.

(birds chirping) After a week or so, depending on air temperature, the egg darkens, and the teeny black head of the caterpillar becomes visible within the eggshell.

The emerging caterpillar chews its way out of its egg case.

(insects chattering) (birds squawking faintly) After first stretching and resting a moment, the caterpillar makes its first meal its eggshell.

The tiny caterpillar is an eating machine.

With six pairs of eyes, many breathing openings called spiracles, and two sets of tentacles, front and back, it uses all its senses to eat its way from leaf to leaf.

Bursting full of milkweed, the caterpillar quickly outgrows its first suit, or exoskeleton.

All insects have an exoskeleton, the hard outer layer that supports its body, much like a skeleton supports a human body.

(bird squawks) Four or five times the caterpillar stops eating to shed its tightening exoskeleton, and this is called molting.

(insects chattering) The Monarch's second suit is a handsome coat of yellow, black, and white stripes, and the third suit is even more vividly colored.

The caterpillar first grows a new suit under its old suit.

Next the caterpillar crawls out of its old suit.

After the molt and while the new suit is soft and pliable, the caterpillar swallows a lot of air, which expands the body.

As the new exoskeleton hardens, it lets out the air to allow room to grow.

Caterpillars molt four or five times as they grow.

Each different caterpillar stage is called an instar.

Molting takes a great deal of energy, and after each molt, the caterpillar rests quietly for a brief period, before eating its discarded exoskeleton.

(insects chirping) The Monarch caterpillar has three distinct body parts.

It has a head and a two-part body with 13 segments.

The first three segments of the body, called the thorax, have each a pair of true jointed legs, with horny claws for grasping the supportive leaf.

The fourth through the 13th segments comprise the largest section of the body and it is called the abdomen.

The sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth segments have each a pair of soft and unjointed suction-cup legs, known as prolegs.

Prolegs aid in locomotion and in maintaining position when the wind blows.

(chimes ringing softly) (insects chirping) The last segment has a pair of powerful anal prolegs, or claspers, which can grip with amazing strength.

Under the head is the spinneret, which the caterpillar uses to spin fine white silken threads.

From the moment it emerges, everywhere the caterpillar travels, it continually spins a web of silky threads, similar to spider's silk.

(insects chirping) If the caterpillar falls off the milkweed leaf, it can hang from the thread and climb back, instead of falling to the ground and becoming lost.

(insects chirping) The hungry caterpillar uses its strong mandibles to tear milkweed into bite-sized pieces.

(bird squawks) It spends all its days and nights eating, eating, and more eating, then molting and resting before resuming eating.

Its appetite is voracious, and as the caterpillar matures, it will hungrily chew the foliage and seedpods of the milkweed plant.

(insects chirping) Caterpillars eat plants that often have chemical substances that are poisonous to birds.

Milky sap flows through milkweed veins and settles in the Monarch caterpillar's body.

The caterpillar has evolved to withstand the toxic sap, and its striped suit warns of a terrible taste.

A bird that attempts to eat a Monarch caterpillar may become sick, or even die.

(insects chattering) (birds cawing) The caterpillar has grown rapidly over the past 10 to 14 days.

Several times it briefly stopped eating to shed its tightening skin.

By the time it is ready to pupate into a chrysalis, from when it was a teeny tiny caterpillar emerging from a pinhead sized egg, it will have grown nearly 2,000 times in size.

(birds cawing) (insects chattering) As the final skin tightens, the caterpillar feels a sense of urgency.

(gentle guitar music) (light upbeat music) He loses all interest in food and becomes restless, descending the milkweed stalk in search of a secluded spot, which may be his milkweed leaf, or a nearby twig or branch.

When the caterpillar finds a safe location, he begins to spin from his spinneret a mass of fine white fibers.

(gentle uptempo guitar music) Back and forth from side to side for nearly an hour, the caterpillar works nonstop constructing a silky mat, which has a button that protrudes from the center.

(gentle uptempo guitar music) (upbeat music) (gentle uptempo guitar music) When finished spinning, the caterpillar turns its body all the way around until the last segment is aligned with the silky button.

Next the caterpillar evacuates all the material not needed during the pupal stage.

(gentle uptempo guitar music) Sensing the silky mat, the caterpillar inserts the button between the anal claspers.

(uptempo guitar music) Minutes elapse, and as the caterpillar feels securely attached, it slowly releases its grip on the plant.

Curling into a J shape, the caterpillar hangs upside down.

(uptempo guitar music) (cricket chirps) Metamorphosis means, changing form, and that is what has begun to happen inside the caterpillar.

(wind blowing softly) (insects chirping) (wind chimes blowing softly) In this quiet state the Monarch caterpillar remains stationary for about a day.

(soft orchestra music) Nearing the end of this resting period, inside a moment's time the whole body begins to expand and contract.

The exoskeleton has become thin and dry, and almost imperceptibly begins to move backward, gathering in tiny folds, splitting along the centerline of the thorax.

With undulating wave-like contractions, the developing green chrysalis is revealed as the exoskeleton peels away and shrivels up, up, and up.

The old exoskeleton is nearly completely shriveled, and within seconds, the little black post of the chrysalis, called a cremaster, must be inserted into the anchor exactly at the same time that the claspers are released.

These are dangerous moves, and if the developing chrysalis fails to grasp the button or shed its old skin, it will perish.

At the bulbous tip of the cremaster are microscopic barbed hooks.

The upward gyrating movements of the chrysalis push the barbed ends into the silky anchor.

When the cremaster is thrust into the silk pad, the hooks lock with the silk threads, in much the same way Velcro functions.

The contractions increase, and the entire outer covering, the feet, the head, and all appendages are discarded.

With rhythmical repetitious revolutions, twirling left, then right, and back again, the pupa throws off his last striped suit.

More gyrating rotations and he fastens himself even more securely to the pad of silk with his newly formed cremaster.

(light upbeat music) But success is not always guaranteed.

Sometimes the shriveled skin sticks to the hardening pupal case, which causes the adult butterfly to be deformed.

And sometimes the cremaster is not securely attached to the silk anchor.

Being only a delicate bag of fluids, when the chrysalis falls to the ground, it is destroyed.

(light upbeat music) Within the case a biological phenomenon is taking place.

Inside the caterpillar are cells called imaginal disks, which are like groups of embryonic cells.

These cells started developing when the caterpillar was very small, but then stalled.

As soon as metamorphosis begins, these little cells start growing rapidly.

Four internal buds will become the wings of the butterfly.

The caterpillar's six stubby prolegs degenerate and are remodeled into the butterfly's six long legs.

The caterpillar's strong pair of chewing mandibles morph into two elongated pipes that will form the proboscis.

Six simple eyes move inward to the brain while a pair of complex eyes form at the exterior.

During metamorphosis, the caterpillar is rebuilt, as if you took your bicycle to the shop and a week later it came back as a car.

(birds chirping) The outer shell of the chrysalis takes several hours to harden.

(birds chirping) A butterfly pupa is immobile and very vulnerable to predator attacks.

The Monarch pupa has adopted the green color of its surroundings and is well disguised.

(birds chirping) The caterpillar's yellow stripes move upward and form a band of gold dots, underlined in black, and more golden flecks speckle the chrysalis.

Chrysalis is another word for pupal case.

The Greek word khrysos, which means gold, gave us our word chrysalis.

Day by day the pattern of the wings becomes more clearly visible.

After a 10 to 20 day period, depending on weather and air temperature, the pupa has nearly completed metamorphosis from larva to butterfly and is getting ready to emerge.

On the morning of the day the butterfly ecloses, the amber and black wing colors are clearly evident through the transparent chrysalis case.

(gentle orchestral music) Slight movements, and then increasingly vigorous contractions, begin to pull the outer shell apart.

(light guitar strumming) (gentle upbeat music) The Monarch pushes head first out of the chrysalis case.

Still clinging to the shell with its long legs, the crumpled, wet wings hang down.

(gentle upbeat music) Within these first few critical moments of the Monarch's life, the mouthparts must zip together to form a siphoning tube, much like a drinking straw.

The butterfly pats the proboscis with it palps, shaping the two parts into one unit.

The tube can be coiled up like a spring for storage, or extended to enable the butterfly to reach deep into flowers to suck up nectar.

(birds chirping) From between the eyes, a pair of segmented antennae unfold.

The antennae have many functions including navigation, scent detection, and to help keep the butterfly balanced.

(birds chirping) The compound eyes of butterflies provide them with almost 360-degree vision, which means they can see nearly everything all around.

The butterfly can see into the flower it is probing for nectar, and at the same time is aware of approaching danger from behind.

From the moment the butterfly emerges, vital fluids stored in the abdomen begin to pump into the wet crumpled wings.

The butterfly blood, or hemolymph, fills the tubular wing veins, called struts, providing strength and structure by inflating the wings.

(birds chirping) For the next several hours, the butterfly is stationary and must first bask in the sun.

It cannot fly until its velvet wings are completely dry and have gained their full strength.

During this time, the butterfly is defenseless against predator attacks.

When thoroughly warmed, the brand new butterfly tests its wings, and takes flight to a nearby leaf or flower, then flies higher and away.

Nearly 90% of all insects undergo complete metamorphosis, although the transformation is no more dramatic than in the butterfly.

(birds chirping) From the seemingly humblest larvae, that looks more like the lowly worm, the most stunning of creatures emerges.

(insects chattering) Wildflowers milkweed, asters, and goldenrod, as well as a wide variety of garden favorites, provide nectar to Monarchs.

Milkweeds and Monarchs co-evolved.

The butterfly's entire life cycle depends upon the plants that comprise the genus Asclepias.

Asters, with their ray flowers surrounding the center disc flowers, offer a convenient landing pad for the butterflies.

Seaside Goldenrod is a panicle of flower heads with a smorgasbord of tiny nectar-rich florets, and it too provides a convenient landing pad.

(birds chirping) (insects chattering) Butterflies have the broadest visual spectrum of any known animal.

They can see colors that are invisible to humans including ultraviolet light.

(insects chattering) Flowers have UV patterns, called floral guides, which steer butterflies to the source of nectar, in much the same way that runway lights guide an aircraft to land.

(light upbeat music) All too soon, summer days come to an end.

Monarchs in gardens join the streams of migrating Monarchs drinking nectar from the wildflowers of Gloucester's eastern most point.

(insects chattering) From meadows north of Cape Ann, more Monarchs arrive to join the scene.

(soft relaxing music) (insects chattering) Fresh blossoms of Seaside Goldenrod, purple and pink asters, beckon to the butterflies.

Come one, come all.

Yellow Sulphurs, Coppers, Buckeyes, Painted Ladies, and Red Admirals join the dance of color and light.

(soft relaxing music) (insects chirping) The butterflies that emerge toward the end of the summer are a super generation of Monarchs.

They live for up to eight months, a very long time for a butterfly, considering previous generations only live for about one month.

They are named the Methuselah Monarchs after the biblical patriarch who is said to have lived 969 years.

It took several generations of Monarchs to reach Cape Ann, but only this last super generation will journey thousands of miles south to the volcanic mountain forests of Mexico.

(birds chirping) Dusk brings chilly night temperatures.

One by one, then twos and tens, then by the hundreds, they settle into Monarch trees, shifting and making room, nestling deeper into the branches furthest away from the prevailing wind.

(cricket chirps) Overnight roosts help keep the Monarchs warm and safe.

(cricket chirps) Midnight moonbeams find a silhouette of arcs aligned against the night sky.

(cricket chirps) (wind blowing softly) (bird caws) In the pearly light of dawn Monarchs sleep.

Golden sunlight gilds the lavender rose-stained sky and Monarchs slumber on.

The marsh is awakening, silver dew sparkles the meadow, ravenous birds hover, poised in a pyramid of possibilities, and still the Monarchs sleep.

(birds squawking) (insects chirping) Sunbeams touch Monarch wings.

One begins to tremble and quiver.

Another spreads his wings, and another shifts to his movement.

In a moment's time, the tree becomes a swirling symphony of luminous light and undulating wing beats.

Taking flight in a half-circle round the Monarch trees, below is an oasis of asters and golden rods.

Alighting on the wildflowers and clasping tightly against the sea breezes, they stretch wide their wings.

The sun pours its warmth, and when sufficiently warmed, the Monarchs begin to nectar and nectar intently.

Now their job is to build strength and to store energy for the long journey south.

The very same vital Earth energy that pulled the migrating Monarchs to northern meadows and gardens is synchronized once again.

(gentle guitar music) Frosty night temperatures urge the Monarchs onward.

Using sun compass navigation, the angle of light guides the Methuselah Monarchs southward, while shifting winds funnel the butterflies between the Great Rocky and Appalachian Mountains.

Crossing the border, the butterflies continue traveling south, over the Central Mexican Plateau, between the Sierra Madre Occidental to the west and the Sierra Madre Oriental to the east.

There are natural mishaps and disasters along the way.

Hungry birds snipping at Monarchs damages their wings.

Pelting rain and hurricane winds blow the butterflies out to sea and far off course.

Gliding high above the Earth, a silent river of wings navigates lake and bay, prairie and desert, mountain and valley.

(wind blowing softly) Tailwinds carry the soaring Monarchs southward, and when caught in a headwind, the weather-worn slips of beauty pause to nectar and to rest.

(insects chirping) (gentle guitar music) (rooster calls) (gentle guitar music) In autumn, Monarchs begin to arrive at the magnificent forests of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, located in the heart of Mexico, and bordering the States of Mexico and Michoacán.

This return coincides with the annual celebration of Día de Muertos, the Day of the Dead.

Combining indigenous pre-Hispanic cultural beliefs with Catholicism, butterflies represent the spirits of the dead returning to Earth to be remembered by their ancestors.

An even older tradition connected the Monarchs with the corn harvest, as their return signified that the corn was ripe.

In the language of the native Purpécha Indians, the name for the Monarch is harvester.

High up in the cloud cover atop the forested mountains the air is cool and moist.

Monarchs spend the winter nestled in the sheltering boughs of the oak, pine, and oyamel fir trees.

Trunk and limb are enveloped in wings of soft gray and pale amber.

The butterfly trees offer a protective umbrella for the wintering Monarchs.

When exposed to extremely cold temperatures, or if they become wet, the butterflies are in danger of freezing to death.

Clustering Monarchs are blanketed by the forest canopy and by one another.

Sunlight spangling through a veil of mist finds Monarch wings.

One by one they begin to awaken.

Quivering and shivering, they spread their wings and fly from the trees.

Warm winter days finds the butterflies seeking water from nearby mountains streams.

(wind blowing softly) Thousands of beating wings sound like summer showers gently drumming the forest's canopy.

Clouds billow above, chilling night temperatures descend, and the Monarchs return to the butterfly trees.

Here in the mixed forests of the Tran-Mexican Volcanic Belt, they spend the winter in a state of sexual immaturity called diapause.

In late winter, as the hours of daylight grow longer, the forest begins to stir as the temperature rises.

(bird chirps) The Earth's energy is synchronized once again.

Radiant, golden sunlight and warm air breathes new life into Monarchs.

Thousands and then millions awaken.

Grand explosions of butterflies rising fill the forest and cloud the sky.

Poised against azure skies, the Monarchs resemble living panes of amber stained glass.

Solar light and beauty in motion, the butterflies emerge from the forest in a swirling exodus.

(insects chattering) By early spring Monarchs have departed Mexico and begin to arrive in Texas and the states surrounding the Gulf of Mexico.

Across marsh and meadow, hillside and prairie, wildflowers blooming welcome the butterflies.

(birds chirping) This grand generation of Monarchs have completed their life cycle.

They migrated several thousand miles south, from northern meadows of milkweed, to the volcanic forests of Mexico.

(birds chirping) The super Monarchs wait out the winter, and then revive in spring to begin migrating northward.

(birds chirping) After mating and laying eggs of the next generation, the Methuselah Monarchs die.

(insects chattering) A female Monarch arrives and investigates a patch of succulent milkweed sprouts.

She gently floats from leaf to leaf, seeking the freshest foliage on which to deposit her eggs Her offspring will travel to the Great Plains and Great Lakes, and some journey to the mid-Atlantic states and New England, and some further still, to the southern provinces of Canada, always in search of marsh and meadow rife with milkweed and sweet wildflowers.

(insects chattering) (birds chirping) The circle of the Monarch's life continues.

The Monarch's life story is one of nature's most incredible examples of adaptation and survival.

No other butterflies in the world journey thousands of miles over such a vast area.

Monarchs do not see borders, religion, ethnicities, or political differences.

They are a symbol of unity, ecologically linking Canada and Mexico, and nearly every region within the United States.

(birds chirping) (insects chattering) The butterflies are in great peril.

The Monarch's spectacular migration evolved over millennia, but it is only recent human activity that has put the phenomenon in grave danger.

The near obliteration of milkweed in the agricultural heartland of the United States is having a profoundly negative impact on the very survival of the species.

Millions of tons of pesticides and herbicides are poured onto farm fields.

The genetically modified corn, soybean, and sorghum can withstand the toxic Roundup, but the herbicide is deadly poisonous to the milkweed and other wildflowers growing in and alongside the fields.

(crackles lightly) (insects chattering) As with so many species the whole Earth wide, loss of habitat and global climate change pose extreme threats to Monarchs.

The warming of the past century has resulted in butterflies out of sync with the blooming times of milkweed and wildflowers.

Many are aware of the perils that wildlife are facing.

(birds chirping) We all have an innate love of the natural world.

Protecting and creating habitats for wild creatures speaks to that deeper human impulse.

Monarch conservation organizations are working to save the butterfly trees and are developing pollinator corridors across North America.

You also can provide a Monarch habitat by planting milkweed and wildflowers.

Butterflies capture our hearts and imagination.

(insects chirping) By imagining the world through a butterfly's eyes, we can do much to nurture these most beautiful of creatures.

Creating butterfly magic with young people is a gift they will never forget.

You, too, can take part in the marvel of the magnificent Monarch butterfly.

(gentle guitar music) You can learn more about Monarch butterflies by visiting our website at monarchbutterflyfilm.com Funding for this program has been provided by the following Lauren Mercadante the John Hauck Foundation New England Biolabs Roberta Christian Susan Frey Marion Frost the Forsythe-Fandetti family Jonathan and Sally Golding Peter and Bobbi Kovner Heidi and John Shiver Joy Vanbuskirk And by the generous support of many other donors.

A complete list is available at APTonline.org

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