Monarch butterflies' white spots may help them fly farther, scientists say
Monarch butterflies with more white spots on their mostly orange-and-black wings are more successful at long-distance migration. Some scientists think the spots may affect airflow around their wings.
Think of a monarch butterfly, and a distinctive image pops up: black-and-orange wings, with a sprinkling of white spots around the black edges. Those white spots may actually help monarchs complete their long-distance migration by altering the air flow around their wings.
Or, at least, that's the provocative new claim from a team of researchers that has analyzed hundreds of monarch wings collected along its migration route.
"If you have larger white spots, you're simply more successful at reaching Mexico," says Andy Davis, a researcher at the University of Georgia.
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