Species that move northward each year include Cloudless Sulphur, Little Yellow, Gulf Fritillary, Painted Lady, American Lady, Red Admiral, Common Buckeye, Long-tailed Skipper, Clouded Skipper, Fiery Skipper, Sachem, and Ocola Skipper. For most species these northward dispersals are gradual, but, in especially good years, one can see Painted Ladies, Cloudless Sulphurs or Clouded Skippers streaming northward along migratory routes. For some species the reverse migration, south in the fall, is more obvious. Cloudless Sulphurs, Mourning Cloaks, Question Marks, and especially Queens and Monarchs can sometimes be found moving southward in groups of thousands. Exactly where all of these butterflies go is not known.
Monarchs are the most well-known of migratory butterflies.
But even here our knowledge is limited. We know that most of the Monarchs from west of the Rockiy Mountains spend the winter along the California coast while those from central North America spend the winter in roosts in the mountains of central Mexico. On the other hand, perhaps northern Monarchs that enter the peninsula don't survive the winter and, for them, Florida is a dead end. Some Monarchs do seem to overwinter in Florida, but these may be largely members of resident, non-migratory, populations. At this point, we just don't know.