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Monarch Butterfly Migration in Michigan
At
the southern tip of Peninsula Point is a trail;
walk down this Michigan Hiking Trail to Peninsula Point will bring you
to a perfect spot to observe the Monarch Butterfly migration in
August-September. The 1.5-mile path extends from the RV parking
lot to a picnic area at the end of the Stonington Peninsula that
includes Peninsula Point Lighthouse. Each year the magic is
repeated.
Each adult butterfly lives only about four to five
weeks. But one of the many wonders of the Monarchs is the annual
creation of a unique "Methuselah generation." As autumn approaches in
their sites of migratory origin, a very special generation of
butterflies is born. Unlike their parents, grandparents,
great-grandparents, and great-great-grandparents -- all of whom had
ephemeral lives measured only in weeks -- these migratory butterflies
survive seven or eight months. In human terms, given our average life
span of 75 years, this would be like having children who lived to be 525
years old!
This generation performs the incredible feat of flying from Canada and
the United States to the center of Mexico -- after which they begin the
northward journey again. Once they reach the United States, a kind of
relay race begins: their short-lived offspring, with only four or five
weeks to live, continue making the trek northward over several
generations.