Such is art, haha. Kidding, this is a little out of context because I’m talking about auto correct for post processing. Great gear like primo lenses create less need for post 😅.

@@annafry1162 very likely yes!!!

well the cycle is year-round, but the migration to Mexico begins in late summer, like August or September (but yes, in May they are in their annual cycle and spreading across the US and southern Canada in what we call the summer period of the migration).

thanks, Tina!!

So happy to hear it! The monarch migration is wildly amazing…unlike anything else out there in our world!!

correct, but the sound of monarchs is amazing! Basically, it sounds like falling leaves (or static) so while it's amazing, 8+ hours of it is a bit much. Plus, as you can imagine, there are often sounds of people next to me, so it wouldn't be pure monarchs

Oh sorry you feel this way. Yes, nature can be variable and the repopulation of North America can take between 3-5 generations. The great thing is that science isn’t stagnant…new research is coming out all the time. I’m so grateful that the monarch receives so much public and research attention! I touch on their navigation/orientation abilities in this video, but perhaps I’ll make another focusing solely on this. Thanks for the idea!

@@courtwhelan We humans are incredibly smart. So take a human infant and put him/her in the middle of northern Mexico and expect him/her to make it to Canada. Or take dumber animals like a monkey or cat or dog or buffalo and do the same thing. It can't be done. How does a couple of generations removed butterflies know where to go? Who told them where to go? And how do even more generations removed butterflies know where to go to go back? Impossible.

Great questions! I'll aim to do another video before too long, but let me answer these here :). So, they undergo their entire lifecycle, from egg, to larva, to pupa, to adult, in late summer and early fall, somewhere in North America. In this generation, they eat milkweed and do al the normal butterfly things until they pick up queues from the environment to migrate. Then, along the way south, they stop briefly to feed, drink water, and to rest. These same monarchs make it all the way down to Mexico, spend 4 1/2 months, and then migrate back up to Southern US in the spring. They mate in Mexico and along the way, and then once they encounter milkweed again they lay their eggs and die. Then it's up to the next 3-4 generations to repopulate north america throughout the spring and summer, before the cycle starts all over again :).

Amazingly the migratory generation is 4x as long of a life, so while a normal monarch lives about 2 months, the migratory ones live about 8 months. All through genetics. Amazing!!

The 4th generation Monarch is much bigger as well so they can handle the long journey 😉

thanks! Frankly, because most of the scenes had someone talking on the trail in the background, or camera clicks, or some other noise that you just don't want to hear :). I could have added the fluttering sound the entire time, just copied from another clip, but it sounds quite a bit like leaves rustling and I figured nobody would actually have audio in the background for 8 hours :). Great question, though...the sound of their wings is truly magical!!

The best thing you can do is to plant local milkweed and plant nectar plants. You can find out more at monarchjointventure.org on what types of plants they prefer :). Thanks for asking!

thanks so much for this! Yes I hope to make more videos soon...this is great encouragement, thank you! I'll indeed aim to cover these topics next :)

thanks for this! Great idea on the new video. As far as indoor vs. outdoor raised, there's quite a bit of evidence on both sides of the equation. However, most experts today feel that those raised outdoors are the healthiest and have the proper migration instincts. However, there are a couple of extra things to consider. first, what you raise them on indoors can have an effect. That is, if you stick with normal "outside" light/dark cycles, temperature, and native, local hostplants, they will do better. Second, is that if you raise monarchs indoors in, say, a classroom, or for children at home, there is just cause to do so, as you're inspiring and informing the next generation--I can't overstate that enough. It's a vital thing to showcase science and monarch biology for children, so while it may be a bit healthier in general for them to stay outdoors, there are sometimes reasons to raise them indoors.

Awesome, Jaden, great to hear!! Good luck on the presentation!!

That would be cool!

when it comes to insects, usually the smaller the insect (butterfly) the shorter the lifespan. This is definitely not a universal statement, but a good rule of thumb. Thus, the smallest moths and butterflies usually do have pretty short life spans. I'm not personally familiar with which ones live only a few days, but frankly there is SO much mortality in insects from predation, parasitism, etc., that I'd imagine that while the full potential life span may be a month plus, the average (taking into account premature mortality) is much, much less. Hope this helps!!

wonderful! Yes, feel free to email me at [email protected]. Thank you!

my pleasure! I hope you enjoy it!

Fully agree, David! Thanks for writing!!

Thanks for watching!!

thanks, David! I just have this thing rolling in my living room most days :)

Praveen Kumar thanks so much!!