On the Wings of a Butterfly

Occasionally a limb might break from the sheer weight of the butterflies

Published December 19, 2022

by Ms. Dale Brous

I did it! I actually did it!! This gray-haired old lady, not in the greatest physical condition, rode a horse for the very first time, and up that steep, boulder-strewn mountain creek bed; all to see the migrating Monarch Butterflies in Michoacan.

According to popular Mexican belief, on Nov. 2nd of each year, the wings of the butterfly carry the spirits of their dead to the Día de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebration. After learning of their 1975 discovery in the cloud-smothered Sierra Madre mountains by the Canadian zoologist Fred Urquhart, I have dreamt of this experience.

This massive movement of butterflies is considered one of the most spectacular natural phenomena in the world. Unlike the salmon, who return to their same spawning grounds, these butterflies are the great-great grandchildren of their ancestors who spent the previous winter in the very same area of Michoacan. Each autumn, as the weather cools, these butterflies begin their virgin 2800-mile journey back to where it all started.

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