By Olivia Cameron
Photos by Katrina Hatch and Michael Coons
Equipped with genetic navigational mystery
and the ability to defy the aging process,
the monarch butterfl y is a unique migrating
species. It all starts here in North America, where
people like local Katrina Hatch gravitate to their
beauty and assist some in their ultimate journey to
central Mexico.
When the COVID pandemic shut the
community down in March, Katrina decided to
raise butterfl ies as a quarantine hobby. “I was
originally trying to grow fl owers and plants that
would attract butterfl ies. It was peer pressure
that led me to raising them. People would tell me
how the tachinid fl ies and wasps would kill the
caterpillars if I didn’t bring them in,” said Katrina.
She started fi nding eggs across her milkweed
plants. The plant itself derived its name from the
milky substance inside the stems. Once the eggs
darken and hatch, the caterpillars thrive on the
milkweed’s poisonous composition, making them
inedible to their prey. These beauties are able
to ward off predators with the yellow, black and
white stripes on their backs.
November/December • 2020 • GASPARILLA MAGAZINE 63