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Monarch Butterflies Born In Captivity Have Trouble Migrating South, Study Says

Thousands of monarch butterflies gather in the eucalyptus trees at the Pismo State Beach Monarch Butterfly Grove.
George Rose
/
Getty Images
Thousands of monarch butterflies gather in the eucalyptus trees at the Pismo State Beach Monarch Butterfly Grove.

Updated at 5:45 p.m. ET

Three summers ago, Ayse Tenger-Trolander, a graduate student at the University of Chicago, ordered a batch of monarch butterflies from a breeder, and made an accidental discovery: the butterflies had likely lost the ability to migrate.

studies the genetics and internal biology of migratory monarchs, and she had ordered the butterflies from a breeder that supplies butterflies for educational settings, with the goal of speeding up her experiments. "We fully expect