Monarch butterflies cross the Appalachians from the west to recolonize the east coast of North America.

Biology Letters
Nathan G MillerD Ryan Norris

Abstract

Each spring, millions of monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) migrate from overwintering sites in Mexico to recolonize eastern North America. However, few monarchs are found along the east coast of the USA until mid-summer. Brower (Brower, L. P. 1996 J. Exp. Biol. 199, 93-103.) proposed that east coast recolonization is accomplished by individuals migrating from the west over the Appalachians, but to date no evidence exists to support this hypothesis. We used hydrogen (δD) and carbon (δ(13)C) stable isotope measurements to estimate natal origins of 90 monarchs sampled from 17 sites along the eastern United States coast. We found the majority of monarchs (88%) originated in the mid-west and Great Lakes regions, providing, to our knowledge, the first direct evidence that second generation monarchs born in June complete a (trans-) longitudinal migration across the Appalachian mountains. The remaining individuals (12%) originated from parents that migrated directly from the Gulf coast during early spring. Our results provide evidence of a west to east longitudinal migration and provide additional rationale for conserving east coast populations by identifying breeding sources.

References

Sep 1, 1996·Current Biology : CB·L Bromham, P H Harvey
Dec 23, 1998·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·L I Wassenaar, A Hobson
Jul 25, 2006·Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry : RCM·Leonard I Wassenaar, Keith A Hobson
Aug 22, 2007·PloS One·Tara G MartinD Ryan Norris

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Citations

Aug 9, 2013·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·D T Tyler FlockhartD Ryan Norris
Mar 1, 2011·Current Biology : CB·Nathan F PutmanKenneth J Lohmann
Apr 19, 2017·Movement Ecology·D T Tyler FlockhartD Ryan Norris

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