Every year, swarms of majestic monarch butterflies take wing in a massive autumn migration from the northern United States to a small region near Mexico City — except for a wayward population that diverts to Florida.
Why some butterflies break off toward the Sunshine State is one of the many mysteries of monarch behavior, but an emerging scientific debate revolves around thousands of South Florida enthusiasts who have planted butterfly gardens to help revive an iconic and at-risk species. Some scientists believe that the Florida diaspora, which has naturally existed for a long time, is being unnaturally coaxed into loafing year-round instead of migrating because of a widely imported tropical plant.
What’s alarming is that when monarchs don’t migrate, they begin accumulating a wing-deforming parasite known as OE.
Florida’s ‘cesspool’ of parasites may hurt monarch migration | Miami Herald
Why some butterflies break off toward the Sunshine State is one of the many mysteries of monarch behavior, but an emerging scientific debate revolves around thousands of South Florida enthusiasts who have planted butterfly gardens to help revive an iconic and at-risk species. Some scientists believe that the Florida diaspora, which has naturally existed for a long time, is being unnaturally coaxed into loafing year-round instead of migrating because of a widely imported tropical plant.
What’s alarming is that when monarchs don’t migrate, they begin accumulating a wing-deforming parasite known as OE.
Florida’s ‘cesspool’ of parasites may hurt monarch migration | Miami Herald