The monarch butterflies are packing their suitcases and going on vacation.

That’s no surprise. These orange and black beauties make the trip every year. Tens of millions of them gather together. They form butterfly clouds. Then they fly for thousands of miles from the United States and Canada. Finally, they land in their perfect vacation spot: the Mexican mountains.
But no butterflies live through their whole vacation. Their life span is too short. Still, every new generation of butterflies goes back to the same spot in the Mexican forest every year. What an amazing design of God! How does it work?

Some scientists think the butterflies release chemicals when they travel. Those chemicals mark the path from north to south. Scientists are worried. What if butterfly numbers fall too low? Will there be enough chemicals in the air for a new generation to follow?

They are right to worry. The number of migrating butterflies is shrinking. Cold weather causes that. So does extra logging in Mexico. Use of pesticides in the United States also threatens the butterfly’s habitat.

The butterfly isn’t in danger of disappearing yet. But it might soon decide to migrate somewhere else!