Life History

Monarch Facts

• Western monarch populations have declined by 99.4% since the 1980's

  • • The western monarch numbers dropped from 192,688 to 28,429 from 2017 to 2018. That's an 86% drop.

• Eastern monarch populations have declined by more than 80%

• Monarch caterpillars can only eat milkweed

• Monarchs have a true, long-distance migration

• The western population of monarchs mostly overwinter on the coast of California, but we know that some travel to the overwintering sites in Mexico

• A single monarch can fly over 2,000 miles!

• In the spring and summer, monarchs only live for a few weeks. These monarchs begin to travel away from the overwintering sites and extend all the way to southern Canada by the end of summer

• The 4th generation, or super-generation, is born in the fall and it is these monarchs that will make the migration back to the overwintering sites

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