Insects wing their way south just like birds

Birds migrate, bats migrate, creatures of the oceans migrate, but did you know insects also migrate? Yes, you might think, I have heard about the great migration of the super monarchs of North America and Canada, traveling up to 3,000 miles to gather at a butterfly sanctuary in southwest Mexico.

Monarchs roosting in a tree. (Photo via Shutterstock)

It is truly amazing to imagine these tiny creatures undergoing such a long and treacherous journey. It is beautiful to see so many clustered together, but what is even more amazing is that they are not alone. 

Scientists have known for a long time that some insects migrate, yet it is still a very understudied field of science. Currently there is an incomplete list of 71 insects in North America that migrate. There is still so much we don’t know! Entomologists, the scientists who specialize in insects, are working hard to study and research these insects and add to this list. 

This list of migrating insects includes 27 species of butterfly, 20 types of moths and 15 different dragonflies! Grasshoppers, true bugs, leafhoppers and beetles also make the list but only one, two or three different kinds of each. View the entire list.

---

Words to know

Sanctuary: A place of refuge or safety.

Treacherous: Hazardous because of hidden or unpredictable dangers.

---

But wait! Most insects do not have very long life cycles. How are they able to travel such distances back and forth? The answer is generational migration.

While each individual species has their own precise cycle of generational migration, here is a simplified version of how it may work: One generation starts the journey and may travel the entire distance to their winter home. Then they have babies and die. Their babies, once adults, may start the journey back home. This second generation will only travel so far until they also have babies and die. When their babies, the third generation, are adults, they continue the journey back to their summer home. New babies are born and the whole cycle repeats. 

Like many migrating birds, migrating insects often travel together. There is safety in numbers. That also means you may be able to observe this migration. The common green darner dragonfly is one species you may notice gathering in late summer or early fall. Clusters of these beautiful insects can be seen right here in Will County as they are heading south. 

A common green darner dragonfly. (Photo via Shutterstock)

There is still so much to learn! We are able to put tracking devices on larger animals to help us study their movement, but there are not tracking devices small enough to attach to a tiny insect.

Don’t give up hope! One scientist found a method to research insect migration. With just a pinhead-sized piece of a dragonfly wing, this scientist was able to discover more about the waters that dragonfly grew up in. Are you curious to know more? Maybe when you grow up you can become an entomologist that helps the world learn more about insect migration.