Monarch Butterfly

The striking monarch butterfly is tougher than it looks: while its bright colors serve as a warning to predators—“Watch out! I’m poisonous!”—the tiny flier also undertakes an incredible 2,000 mile journey every winter in search of a few specific mountaintops in the fir forests of Central Mexico. There, the climate is just right for monarchs: not cold enough for the butterflies to freeze, but cold enough to keep their systems dormant until spring. However, global warming is causing more cool-weather precipitation in these areas, which is bad news for monarch butterflies that can freeze at low temperatures.

Scientific name: Danaus plexippus
IUCN Red List: Not Evaluated
Region: West, Rockies, Midwest, Southeast, Northeast