Belize Butterfly Migrations

Belize is on the flyway for Sulphur and other butterfly migrations from the United States and Canada to and through Central America. The summer migration usually starts in June and can last for several weeks. Among the species of butterflies migrating at this time are Cloudless Sulphur (Phoebis sennae), Orange Banded Sulphur (Phoebis philea), Ruddy Daggerwing (Phoebis philea), Great Southern White (Ascia monuste), and Giant Swallowtail (Heraclides cresphontes), among many others. Monarchs (Danaus plexippus) usually migrate south to and through Belize in the late fall, and northward in the early spring. (Monarchs are believed to be the only species that migrate both north and south.) Butterfly and moth expert Jan Meerman at Green Hills Butterfly Farm estimates that as many as two million butterflies and moths migrate through Belize in a single day during migration season.