Butterfly Tagged in Iowa Ends Up in Another Country

When we think of the life of a butterfly, we generally assume that they stay around the same area their entire life. I mean, they are tiny little things after all. Who would've thought that a little butterfly could travel all the way to another country?

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According to a Facebook post from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, a Monarch butterfly was tagged in Dallas County, Iowa on September 23. Then, on November 1, it was spotted in Acámbaro, Guanajuato (that's in Mexico!). That means that the little butterfly travelled 1,800 miles in 39 days. Incredible!

It may seem unusual, but it's actually quite normal. According to the Iowa DNR post, there is a "super-generation of monarchs that complete a 3,000-mile-long migration marathon, acquire the remarkable ability to halt aging and then stay alive for more than eight months". That's crazy considering most monarchs live only weeks. Apparently in the spring, these special butterflies will head back north. I never would've guessed that butterflies could migrate like birds do. But, then again I'm no expert.

Get more info on these remarkable creatures and their migration patterns from the real experts here on the Iowa DNR website.