Email Print Share
May 29, 2019

Monarch butterflies cling together on branch

Researchers at Michigan State University, studying the decline of monarch butterflies, found that a critical piece of the butterfly’s annual cycle was missing: fall migration. By focusing on this southerly trek, as well as changing the scale at which winter populations are examined, scientists reveal a wider, more-accurate spectrum of threats that have contributed to the monarch population’s downward trend.

Learn more about this research, supported by the National Science Foundation (grants DEB 1702635 and DEB 1702179), in the Michigan State University news story When it comes to monarchs, fall migration matters. (Date image taken: unknown; date originally posted to NSF Multimedia Gallery: May 29, 2019)

Credit: Photo by Kelly Nail/Michigan State University


Images and other media in the National Science Foundation Multimedia Gallery are available for use in print and electronic material by NSF employees, members of the media, university staff, teachers and the general public. All media in the gallery are intended for personal, educational and nonprofit/non-commercial use only.

Images credited to the National Science Foundation, a federal agency, are in the public domain. The images were created by employees of the United States Government as part of their official duties or prepared by contractors as "works for hire" for NSF. You may freely use NSF-credited images and, at your discretion, credit NSF with a "Courtesy: National Science Foundation" notation.

Additional information about general usage can be found in Conditions.

Also Available:
Download the high-resolution JPG version of the image. (791.6 KB)

Use your mouse to right-click (Mac users may need to Ctrl-click) the link above and choose the option that will save the file or target to your computer.