Monarch butterflies are orange in appearance with black-lined wings and white spots.
Each year, it takes around three to four generations of monarch butterflies to make their way from their winter home in Mexico, to where they breed in North America and Canada – a journey said to span more than 2,000 miles.
Luckily, for those of us residing in Cuyahoga County, we get to catch a glimpse of this fantastic and phenomenal migration.
According to the National Park Service, those found in our area are from the third generation of monarchs.
“As the air warms in early March, monarchs become more active and leave the protection of the oyamel fir forests to head north, mate, and seek the nearest milkweed fields to lay their eggs. These offspring are Generation 1. Monarchs follow specific routes, called flyways – one of which stretches to the Great Lakes. Generations 1 and 2 journey progressively north: mating, laying eggs, and dying along the way…” SOURCE
Local cartoonist Dean Norman illustrates such a migration with a Cleveland-twist, here.
