Young Naturalists
Winging It
The phenomenal life and fragile future of the monarch butterfly.
Christine Petersen
Even if I live to be 100, I’ll never forget the first time I saw a monarch butterfly.
It was a late summer morning, soon before I started second grade. I’d been complaining about the heat, but my great-grandmother just chuckled and handed me a large metal bowl. “Let’s pick some tomatoes for lunch, hon,” she said.
So out we went, to the vegetable garden that filled the backyard. Around its edges stood a border of sunflowers easily twice my height. And at the center of one plate-sized flower was the most spectacular butterfly imaginable, with wings the color of flames. “What is it, Granny?” I asked in a stunned whisper. Looking up from the tomato plants, she replied, “A wanderer. Some call them monarchs.”
Perhaps you’ve been lucky enough to watch these big, beautiful butterflies gliding over parks, fields, and roads. At certain times of year, monarchs can be found throughout Minnesota, as well as most of the United States and southern Canada.
What’s so special about monarchs? For me, it’s the fact that they’re familiar and mysterious at the same time—easy to spot, but leading complex lives that continue to challenge the understanding of scientists and naturalists who study and protect them.
