Monarch Butterfly | Species

Species
Monarch Butterfly

Species
Monarch Butterfly

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Overview
Why They Matter
Threats
What WWF is Doing
How You Can Help
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Overview

Status
Near Threatened
Scientific Name
Danaus plexippus
Weight
less than half a gram
Length
4 IN.
Habitats
Forests, Mountains

Monarch butterflies embark on a marvelous migratory phenomenon. They travel between 1,200 and 2,800 miles or more from the United States and Canada to central Mexican forests. There the butterflies hibernate in the mountain forests, where a less extreme climate provides them a better chance to survive. The monarch butterfly is known by scientists as Danaus plexippus, which in Greek literally means "sleepy transformation." The name evokes the species' ability to hibernate and metamorphize. Adult monarch butterflies possess two pairs of brilliant orange-red wings, featuring black veins and white spots along the edges. Males, who possess distinguishing black dots along the veins of their wings, are slightly bigger than females. Each adult butterfly lives only about four to five weeks.

Habitats
Mountains, Forests

Browse Photos & Videos

Monarch Butterfly Survey Indicates Lowest Numbers in 20 Years

The percentage of forest occupied by monarch butterflies in Mexico, used as an indicator of the number of butterflies that arrive to that country each winter, reached its lowest level in two decades.

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Blog Posts

WWF Travel Blog Mexico’s Top 3 Nature Experiences

Why They Matter

The monarch butterfly exhibits the most highly evolved migration pattern of any known species of butterfly or moth and perhaps any known insect.

Threats

Extinction Risk Near Threatened
1. EX
  Extinct
  
  No reasonable doubt that the last individual has died
2. EW
  Extinct in the Wild
  
  Known only to survive in cultivation, in captivity or as a naturalised population
3. CR
  Critically Endangered
  
  Facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the Wild
4. EN
  Endangered
  
  Facing a high risk of extinction in the Wild
5. VU
  Vulnerable
  
  Facing a high risk of extinction in the Wild
6. NT
  Near Threatened
  
  Likely to qualify for a threatened category in the near future
7. LC
  Least Concern
  
  Does not qualify for Critically Endangered, Endangered, Vulnerable, or Near Threatened

Habitat Loss

Monarchs need mountain forests in Mexico for their winter habitat, however nearby human communities also rely on them and create pressure on forests through agriculture and tourism activities.

In the U.S., monarchs need places to reproduce and feed. However, herbicide use is decreasing the availability of their primary food source, the milkweed plant (Asclepias).

Climate Change

Climate change threatens to disrupt the monarch butterfly’s annual migration pattern by affecting weather conditions in both wintering grounds and summer breeding grounds. Colder, wetter winters could be lethal to these creatures and hotter, drier summers could shift suitable habitats north. WWF’s 2013 report from Mexico showed that the number of monarch butterflies wintering there was at its lowest in 20 years. The number is measured by the amount of forest they occupy, and in 2013 the number of butterfly acres decreased from approximately seven to three. Abnormal patterns of drought and rainfall in the U.S. and Canada breeding sites may have caused adult butterfly deaths and less plant food for caterpillars. Fewer butterflies up north mean fewer then migrate south to Mexico for the winter.

What WWF Is Doing

WWF works to preserve vital butterfly habitat in Mexico’s Monarch Butterfly Reserve by promoting good forest management and sustainable tourism. WWF also supports tree nurseries that help restore the forest in the Reserve which creates new sources of income for the local communities that live among the butterflies. Read more about WWF’s work with local communities to protect monarch habitat in Mexico.

How You Can Help

Take Action

Tell your members of Congress and President Obama to reject budget proposals that would slash funding for endangered species and tropical forests, clean air and water, and efforts to confront climate change.