LAWRENCE, Kan., Sept. 6 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists say an unusually large number of Monarch butterflies are expected as they make their way south to their winter home in Mexico this season.
"The temperatures were perfect, the moisture conditions were perfect. It was neither too hot, nor too dry, nor too rainy or too windy," said Orley Taylor, a University of Kansas professor of ecology and evolutionary biology.
Taylor said this year's population is probably the largest Monarch watchers have seen in 10 years.
But Taylor said a difficult road lies ahead for the monarch butterflies, which travel more than 2,000 miles from Canada to Mexico. Extreme high temperatures and lack of rain have left dry conditions this summer in Texas and parts of southern Oklahoma.
"It means there aren't going to be any flowers. It means there isn't going to be any water, and there isn't going to be any nectar," Taylor said.
"They're going to be going through what looks like about 1,000 miles of really dry habitat," Taylor said. "So unless there is rainfall in this region between now and October, the death toll for these butterflies going through Texas is going to be pretty severe."
