Drift & Settle

11/05/2025

11/03/2025

03/13/2025

08/27/2024

07/10/2024

Me as a dog

06/26/2024

As we move toward July, monarchs may be moving into their third generation of the year.

The year's first generation of monarchs is born in the South, and is the offspring of monarchs that have migrated from Mexico. That generation moves north and lays eggs, and soon, the great-grandchildren of the monarchs from Mexico may be starting to lay eggs in northern areas.

The fourth generation will begin the migration to Mexico at the end of the summer, though some monarchs will breed in the South one more time. While the second or third-generation monarchs we see in the summer will only live for two to six weeks, the final generation lives through the winter in order to make their migration north again next spring and start the cycle all over again.

Check out the annual cycle in the photo and next time you see a monarch, you can try and think about which generation you're seeing!