Every fall, West Texans look to the skies for one of nature’s most remarkable journeys: the migration of the monarch butterfly. Traveling thousands of miles from Canada to Mexico, monarchs pass directly through the Big Country, making the region an important stopover along the way.
But their numbers have declined in recent years, facing threats from habitat loss, herbicide use and climate change.
“Huge,” said Jeanne Dotson of the Big Country Naturalists, describing her love of monarchs. “I’ve been studying them since 2008, and they’re just amazing. I find out new things all the time.”
Dotson said the butterflies’ journey is more complex than many people realize. “Some butterflies actually leave Canada and fly all the way to Mexico. There’s years and years ago, as scientists said … they do not mate. But in West Texas, we find eggs all the time in the fall. So they are actually mating on their way down,” she said.
Monarchs spend winters in the mountains of Michoacán, Mexico. “They live in oyamel fir trees down there, and the fir trees are like an insulation,” Dotson said. “The branches are very thick, and they insulate the butterflies and keep them warm. One of the problems in Mexico with the migration is that there’s illegal logging going on … people cut down those oyamel trees, which then leave the monarchs exposed to the elements.”
Texas plays a central role in both directions of the migration. “Coming north in the spring, they come from Mexico, they lay eggs and die in Texas, and then their offspring mate, lay eggs, and they keep traveling north as far as Canada,” Dotson said. “Those butterflies live 3 to 4 weeks. The winter butterflies live up to eight months.”
She added that West Texas is “a huge part of the migration pathway,” though historically overlooked in research. Dotson pointed to local sightings as evidence of the area’s importance. “In the 70s there were monarch, the trees were completely full of monarchs at night in October,” she said. “The monarchs from Canada go to the exact same trees that their great-great-grandparents left a year before. They’ve never been there. And yet they end up in the same exact trees.”
The peak time for migration in the region is around Oct. 5, Dotson said, though early arrivals are sometimes seen as soon as Labor Day.
Habitat loss in the U.S. remains one of the greatest threats. “Hospital Drive was a huge milkweed patch. And every year, two or three office buildings are built and that’s cleared,” Dotson said. “So habitat loss is big. Farmers using Roundup Ready … it kills everything but the cotton or the wheat. And so, that’s the increased loss of habitat.”
Residents can help support monarchs with small steps. “Having nectar plants in the fall, also leaving milkweed, asking the mowers at TxDOT and other places not to mow at the beginning of September when they’re coming through, it would be a big thing,” Dotson said. “Planting milkweed, native milkweed is best to plant, so that they have places to lay eggs.”
She suggested local sources for seeds. “Native American Seed sells some native milkweed seed. Or you could call me and I’d give you some seeds. Collect seeds in the fall and then cast them in your yard in places where it’s not going to be developed.”
For those hoping to witness the migration, Dotson said Abilene Christian University and the Abilene Zoo are among the best viewing spots, along with Abilene State Park.
“If you stop and you look at the trees … in just a minute you see one open its wings and flap and you see that bright orange. And then you realize the trees are completely covered,” she said. “They look like leaves.”