How Do Monarchs Do It?
This piece details the migratory journey of monarch butterflies to the forests of Mexico, highlighting the biological mystery of how they navigate across the continent. It describes the author's visit to the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve and the environmental significance of their life cycle.
Why it matters
It emphasizes the importance of ecological conservation and the wonder of natural phenomena that are currently being studied by scientists.
Anna Hop for The Atlantic Science How Do Monarchs Do It? Somehow, they traverse an entire continent, wintering in the very same forests that their forebears did. We’re only just starting to understand their secrets.
Save “ ¡Mire! ” My guide, Silvestre, pointed upward, as if I wasn’t already walking with my neck craned as far back as it could go. The sky was alive with millions of fluttering shapes, congregating into clouds at random, occasionally turning into ribbons that wound through the trees. So many butterfly wings beat the air that their vibrations were audible, like a waterfall rushing in the distance. I understood for the first time the immensity of the event I’d come to see.
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