Searching for Monarchs in the Sierra Chincua
by Elizabeth Howard
Q. Where are the butterflies?
- Look carefully at photos B and E, and you'll see clustering butterflies.
- Photo D was a trick photo. You can see single butterflies, but those butterflies had flown away from the colonies, which were just over the hill in the direction the people are walking.
 B |
 D |
 E |
A. We were watching for butterflies, dead and alive.
Underneath a colony, butterflies litter the ground like confetti after a parade. And when the colony moves, the wings remain behind. We watched the ground for colorful wings, in case the butterflies were above us, camouflaged in the trees. Three times we came upon distinct areas where there were thousands of wings, but no butterflies above--silent testimony to the life and activity that was previously there. Because the wings remain on the ground for days and even weeks after the butterflies have gone, they leave a trail that tells the seasonal history of the colony. Scientists studying habitat needs can learn which areas are important to the butterflies by noting this litter of wings.
