Researchers find that the white spots on the wings of monarch butterflies may help them fly farther. (Story first aired on All Things Considered on June 21, 2023.) Monarch butterflies have ...

Butterflies' flight trajectories often appear random or chaotic, and compared with other hovering insects, their bodies follow seemingly mysterious, jagged, jerking motions. These unique hovering ...

It is unclear how these spots help the butterflies, but it is possible they create temperature differences across the insect’s large wings, reducing drag and helping them fly more efficiently.

Those butterflies spend their summers along the southern and central California coast before flying north to as far as British Columbia, Canada. James, considered the leading expert on U.S ...

"I've worked on butterfly color patterns my whole life, basically, and never, never considered this," says Kronforst. "It's never crossed my mind that it might influence how the butterflies fly." ...