Photo by Michelle Jewell
Mid-November days spent in your garden are becoming fewer and farther in between, but you might still spot the flutter of the unmistakable black and orange monarch butterflies making way in the crisp air.
This is exactly what happened to Tamsin from Burlington, NC when she wrote us to ask, “Do monarch butterflies overwinter in North Carolina?”
Entomologist Elsa Youngsteadt answered the call:
“It seems like you must have a straggler,” says Youngsteadt. “Peak migration through our area is usually in October. Monarchs cannot withstand a hard frost, so an overwintering population in NC is still unrealistic. If your butterfly gets a serious move on, it might be able to stay ahead of the frost and make it to Florida, where some populations do overwinter. I wish it the best!”
Butterfly belvederes like Tasmin can report monarch sightings to two databases: Journey North and Monarch Watch.
If you have a question for an ecologist, feel free to email me at majewell@ncsu.edu.
I just had a monarch emerge from it’s Chrysalis early this afternoon, Dec 5. It had been hanging from my porch rail since Oct 29 and stayed green the whole time. There was another one close by that started turning black a couple of weeks ago. As of 3:30 PM, the monarch is still out on my open porch. I put some sliced fruit (oranges, strawberries and apples in a shallow dish. It did go onto the fruit once but is now on a branch that I put close to the dish. Is there anything else I can do or is this gal going to wind up a goner? I have a pineapple sage bush nearby that is still full of blooms. I live in Bolivia, NC
Hi Margaret – unfortunately, it’ll probably end up a goner unless our unseasonably warm winter continues. Would love an update!