The monarch butterfly is the only one of its kind to return from a migration, covering 100 miles in a single day, and flying a total distance of up to 3,000 miles before they are back home.
“As monarchs fly, the patchwork of dark and light colors on the edges of their wings creates an uneven pattern of heating and cooling, per the study. With the dark areas slightly warmer and the white parts slightly cooler, tiny, swirling pockets of air can form around the spots. These eddies may provide some extra lift for the insects and reduce drag on their wings by shifting how air flows past the butterfly.”
Engineers are looking at mirroring the Monarch’s spots on drones which could give them more lift and allow them to carry more.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/seven-scientific-discoveries-from-2023-that-could-lead-to-new-inventions-180983504/