The Monarch butterfly we considered in the last article normally lives only 6 weeks. So how is it able to fly from Canada to Mexico, hibernate there for 4 months, and then fly north over the Mediterranean to the southern states? The Monarch’s migration is as amazing as its life cycle! 

High in the Mountains of Mexico, millions of Monarchs hibernate for the winter. They come from all parts of the United States and Canada. They cluster in trees at 9,000 to 11,000 feet elevation.* The cold allows them to hibernate, lowering their body temperature and extending their life to as much as a year. In March, those coming from east of the Rockies migrate northward, some all the way to where their life began! Others migrate just to the southern states. These lay eggs and die within six weeks. Another generation is hatched and migrates further north, living only six weeks. As many as four generations pass in this way, each moving further north. The fifth generation then begins a flight of 3000 miles to that location east of Mexico city not seen since the days of their great great-grandparents! Though such travel seems logically impossible, an estimated 300 million manage to do it every year! Monarchs are the only insects in the world to migrate annually over continental distances. How can evolution explain such a complex navigational system? The Bible makes it clear that this beautiful creature is the product of the handiwork of Jesus Christ! (John 1:3; Heb. 1:2)
*(this site has many more pictures and video clips of Monarchs hibernating. http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/monarch/GallerySanctuary.html)