Monarch butterflies, freed in Western Mass., flit toward warmer climes

The Magic Wings conservatory in South Deerfield released the butterflies Sunday. Curator Fred Gagnon said the monarchs, which are all offspring of wild Massachusetts butterflies, have not had the best summer.

(Rebecca Gagnon)

"We had a bunch of leftover butterflies here because of that month of rain in June, which pushed back reproduction, and we ended up having a bunch of female monarchs that laid eggs later in the season," Gagnon said.

He estimated that at least 400 people came to see the butterflies being freed.

"We've never had so many butterflies that we could make a grand release like that," Gagnon said. "We figured we'd make it a fun event."

The conservatory's business manager, George Miller Jr., said he wanted the monarchs to be able to join the seasonal migration to Mexico and Central America.

"If we did not let them go, we would have taken them into our conservatory, and others would be sold for memorials and events," Miller said.

The butterflies set out on a dramatic trip each year.

Gagnon said the monarchs begin leaving Mexico in February and March, and reproduce along the way.

They'll fly as far up as Canada and reach Massachusetts around May and June. The monarchs reproduce until late August and early September, and that's when they start to become migratory.

Monarchs live to be around eight months if they fly south, and they are not reproductive during that time, Gagnon said. If they stay and reproduce, their average life span is a month.