AUTHOR
The Monarch Butterfly Migration
Its Rise and Fall
by Monika Maeckle
240 PAGES | 6 X 9 | 20 B&W ILLUS. $29.95 – Hardcover ISBN: 9780806194561 | PUBLISHED: AUGUST 2024
Each fall, millions of monarch butterflies migrate from Canada to Mexico. Their incredible journey—nearly 3,000 miles long—takes them through Oklahoma, Texas, and other US states, where butterfly devotees eagerly await their arrival. The monarch migration is a brilliant demonstration of nature’s ingenuity, but the delicate creatures face many perils, and the number of migrating monarchs is declining sharply. This compelling book weaves natural history, science, and personal experience to explore the rise and fall of one of nature’s most spectacular phenomena.
While monarch butterflies have been migrating for centuries, they seized public attention in 1976 when a National Geographic magazine cover story featured the “discovery” of their roosting sites in Mexico. The article rocked the world of lepidoptery, solved a scientific mystery, and opened the door to human meddling. The new revelations put a spotlight on the insects, and inspired the creation of butterfly sanctuaries in Mexico as well as myriad efforts to protect them. Almost 40 years later, many believe that monarch butterflies are in danger of extinction. How real is that danger?
Journalist and butterfly advocate Monika Maeckle addresses this question and more as she delves into the rich history and current plight of the monarch butterfly. Through meticulous reporting, Maeckle offers unique insights on the butterflies as well as a nuanced portrait of the shifting and sometimes contentious community of scientists, enthusiasts, and “flutterati” who have emerged to support the monarchs’ cause.
A highly engaging book, The Monarch Butterfly Migration also focuses a wider lens on the effects of climate change and the tensions between advocacy and scientific accuracy. In addition to calling for environmental sustainability, this book reminds each of us to notice—and never take for granted—the natural wonders in our own backyards.
240 PAGES | 6 X 9 | 20 B&W ILLUS.
$29.95 – Hardcover
ISBN: 9780806194561
PUBLISHED: AUGUST 2024
The Monarch Butterfly Migration
Its Rise and Fall
by Monika Maeckle
Each fall, millions of monarch butterflies migrate from Canada to Mexico. Their incredible journey—nearly 3,000 miles long—takes them through Oklahoma, Texas, and other US states, where butterfly devotees eagerly await their arrival. The monarch migration is a brilliant demonstration of nature’s ingenuity, but the delicate creatures face many perils, and the number of migrating monarchs is declining sharply. This compelling book weaves natural history, science, and personal experience to explore the rise and fall of one of nature’s most spectacular phenomena.
While monarch butterflies have been migrating for centuries, they seized public attention in 1976 when a National Geographic magazine cover story featured the “discovery” of their roosting sites in Mexico. The article rocked the world of lepidoptery, solved a scientific mystery, and opened the door to human meddling. The new revelations put a spotlight on the insects, and inspired the creation of butterfly sanctuaries in Mexico as well as myriad efforts to protect them. Almost 40 years later, many believe that monarch butterflies are in danger of extinction. How real is that danger?
Journalist and butterfly advocate Monika Maeckle addresses this question and more as she delves into the rich history and current plight of the monarch butterfly. Through meticulous reporting, Maeckle offers unique insights on the butterflies as well as a nuanced portrait of the shifting and sometimes contentious community of scientists, enthusiasts, and “flutterati” who have emerged to support the monarchs’ cause.
A highly engaging book, The Monarch Butterfly Migration also focuses a wider lens on the effects of climate change and the tensions between advocacy and scientific accuracy. In addition to calling for environmental sustainability, this book reminds each of us to notice—and never take for granted—the natural wonders in our own backyards.
Advanced Praise for The Monarch Butterfly Migration
“A wonderful and important story—part memoir, part murder mystery, and full of the magnificent biology of nature’s monarch. Monika Maeckle deciphers complex scientific and social issues in an accessible, journalistic style that will be widely appreciated.”
—Anurag Agrawal, author of Monarchs and Milkweed: A Migrating Butterfly, a Poisonous Plant, and Their Remarkable Story of Coevolution
“A soaring triumph. Maeckle’s crisp prose, clear-eyed perspective, and forthright passion weave a powerful story about the relationships between humans and monarchs, with wide-reaching implications for all of us. I picked up this book and couldn’t put it down.”
—Juli Berwald, author of Life on the Rocks: Building a Future for Coral Reefs
About the Author
Monika Maeckle is a gardener, monarch tagger, recovering beekeeper, and curious student of nature who loves the whole life cycle. She’s based in San Antonio.
With a long career in media and marketing, Maeckle founded the Texas Butterfly Ranch website and San Antonio’s Monarch Butterfly and Pollinator Festival. She and husband, Robert Rivard, founded San Antonio’s independent news site, the Rivard Report, which later rebranded as the nonprofit San Antonio Report. She continues to serve as a contributor to the site.
Maeckle raises butterflies and native plants in her Mariposario and urban garden as well as at her family’s Llano River ranch. She, her family and friends have tagged 10,000+ monarch butterflies over the years, more than 60 of which have been recovered from the forest floor in Mexico.
Maeckle worked closely with the National Wildlife Federation in 2015 to convince San Antonio to sign the Mayor’s Monarch Pledge, resulting in the city’ status as the nation’s first Monarch Butterfly Champion City. In 2016, with lots of community help, she organized San Antonio’s Monarch Butterfly and Pollinator Festival. which unfolds each October during peak monarch migration season and attracts thousands of visitors. Social impact media site Nationswell profiled the event in a 12-minute documentary and named it “Outstanding Solution of 2018.”
Maeckle also spearheaded a local pollinator habitat initiative, in an effort to create 300 pollinator habitats for San Antonio’s 300th birthday. After exceeding its 2018 goal, the initiative expanded beyond San Antonio, and currently boasts 1,100+ registrants.
Her second book, Plants with Purpose, will be published this fall by Texas A & M University Press.
About the Author
Monika Maeckle is a gardener, monarch tagger, recovering beekeeper, and curious student of nature who loves the whole life cycle. She’s based in San Antonio.
With a long career in media and marketing, Maeckle founded the Texas Butterfly Ranch website and San Antonio’s Monarch Butterfly and Pollinator Festival. She and husband, Robert Rivard, founded San Antonio’s independent news site, the Rivard Report, which later rebranded as the nonprofit San Antonio Report. She continues to serve as a contributor to the site.
Maeckle raises butterflies and native plants in her Mariposario and urban garden as well as at her family’s Llano River ranch. She, her family and friends have tagged 10,000+ monarch butterflies over the years, more than 60 of which have been recovered from the forest floor in Mexico.
Maeckle worked closely with the National Wildlife Federation in 2015 to convince San Antonio to sign the Mayor’s Monarch Pledge, resulting in the city’ status as the nation’s first Monarch Butterfly Champion City. In 2016, with lots of community help, she organized San Antonio’s Monarch Butterfly and Pollinator Festival. which unfolds each October during peak monarch migration season and attracts thousands of visitors. Social impact media site Nationswell profiled the event in a 12-minute documentary and named it “Outstanding Solution of 2018.”
Maeckle also spearheaded a local pollinator habitat initiative, in an effort to create 300 pollinator habitats for San Antonio’s 300th birthday. After exceeding its 2018 goal, the initiative expanded beyond San Antonio, and currently boasts 1,100+ registrants.
Her second book, Plants with Purpose, will be published this fall by Texas A & M University Press.
