Eastern North American Monarch Butterfly Migration and Navigation

Eastern North American monarch butterflies undergo an incredible fall migration that begins in the northern United States and southern Canada and ends nearly 2,500 miles south in a small area in central Mexico.  They use a process called time compensated sun compass navigation to follow their migratory paths to and from their overwintering grounds in central Mexico.

This site contains instructional videos that cover the migration and navigation of monarch butterflies along with several practice problems regarding how altering the internal circadian time of a butterfly can cause mis-navigation events.  Finally, we have created an interactive diagram to help illuminate the mechanisms behind these navigational errors.

I hope you take advantage of all of these resources to expand your knowledge of this fascinating biological phenomenon.