(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — It’s monarch butterfly season again in Chicago, as the butterflies prepare to continue their migration down to Mexico.
Bill Collins, with the Cook County Forest Preserves and an expert on monarch butterflies, said the butterflies make their migratory journey every fall.
“Unlike when they go up north … this is all done in one generation,” he said. “When they travel north, it’s several generations, [with] each one only going part of the way. But during the fall, it’s one generation — that lives about six to nine months — that goes all the way down to Mexico. That would be the equivalent of a human living about 500 years.”
Marisa Bedolla was admiring monarchs in the western suburbs and has been to the forests of central Mexico, where monarchs converge by the millions.
“You’re sitting there, silent, and they just start landing on you,” she said. “It’s beautiful. It’s a once in a lifetime experience.”
Collins said some believe the monarch butterflies are spirits of ancestors returning home.
In 2022, the monarch butterfly was added to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s list of endangered species. Collins said that was due to a combination of factors, including pesticides and habitat loss.
“Some of the areas where they overwinter in Mexico are protected by law — some of them are not,” he said. “Also, they depend heavily on milkweed. There’s a drive to plant a lot of it. People in the area seem to be pretty knowledgeable about how important milkweed is to our environment here.”
The Cook County Forest Preserve will have a “Migrating Monarchs Celebration” on Sept. 9 in Thatcher Woods, located in River Forest.
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