The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1911-10-04
A MYSTERY OF MIGRATION.
The Horde of Butterflies That Light or
the Same Limb in Flight South.

Ine SAME Lliup III rHBhl oOutn.
Once again on their annual pilgrimage,
which never has failed in the last ten
years OF beautiful monarch butterflies
all the same color and all the same
species, swarmed on the limbs OF trees
in the yard in the rear Of the home
Of Mrs. w. d. George, Dayton avenue,
yesterday afternoon, hanging in great
clusters so thick in places the trees
seemed spotted with brown.
About O'Clock they began to come,
hundreds in a flock, flying as straight
as if guided by an unseen hand. Past
hosts of other trees they flew unhes-
itatingly, and with an unerring instinct
sought resting places on the limbs OF
the very tree that has been the tenn
porary shelter of thousands Of their an
eestors in years gone by.
More singular was the quest of the
butterflies of former years that had
sought out this resting place over night
on their journey south. Nine years in
succession so long has Mrs. George
kept an account--they came to one par
ticularly long limb of a box elder in the
yard, literally eoncealing it with their
clusters.
Other limbs on that tree were ignored
as the butterflies yesterday ignored 9th
er trees in adjoining lots, This was
their resting place for the night-no
other would do. Unerringly they found
it, hanging low to the ground, and new
err did they leave it until sunrise.
Last year this limb was cut off, so
when the butterflies returned this year
the old place of vantage was gone and
they clustered on the outer branches Of
this and other trees In the yard. But
in the one yard they stayed, loyal
! though the old home was gone.
What guides them to one spot in st.
Paul is scientific mystery made more
! involved because it is said butterflies
live only one year, hence none from
last year could have guided them this
season to the trees. Mrs George, who
has watched them for years aud has
seen thousands come and thousand 60,
offers no explanation for the ever re-
curing visit
This butterfly is known commonly as
the milkweed butterfly" said A. G. Rug
giles, assistant professor in the division
of entomology OF the state agricultural
! school. when consulted last night. "The
scientific name Is Anosia plexippus, and
| it belongs to the family Lymnadidas
| IL derives its common name because the
caterpillar from which it comes feeds
almost entirely on milkweed.
"These butterflies are nauseous to
birds and hence are able to congregate
as they do with impunity. They have
northern migration in the spring and
southern migration in the fall, diff
ferent from that of birds in this way,
that the female butterflies come north
about the time the milkweed begins to
grow in the spring, lay their eggs and
die soon after Matching from these
eggs are the caterpillars that feed on
the weed, eventually changing into but
terAies, which fly still further north,
where the females again lay eggs
"And so generation after generation
is produced, the adults migrating fur
Their and further north, until we find
them late in the season often as far
north as Hudson's bay, in the fall
they gather in great focks and fly
south.
"They are great fliers and we know
they can cover 500 miles at least, be.
cause specimens have been taken on the
ocean that distance from shore. The
monarch is a native of America, but Is
now practically cosmopolitan, being
found almost everywhere on the globe
st. Paul Dispatch,