Monarch Butterfly

A monarch butterfly is one of the most beautiful butterflies which are larger than most butterflies and are found all around the world. It must have got its name because of its size or because they have the largest family. They are sometimes called as the “milkweed butterfly” as their larvae feed on only milkweed plants.

Life Cycle

* A female monarch butterfly lays its eggs on the underside of the milkweed leaves. The eggs are spherical and white in color. It takes around 3 days to two weeks to hatch, depending on the temperature.

* The larvae have white, black and yellow stripes. They feed on the milkweed plant for about two week and grow into caterpillars which are about 2 inch long.

* After a while the caterpillars attach themselves upside down to a twig and start shedding the skin and transforms into a pupa. This process does not a more than few hours.

* The pupa becomes transparent in due course and the adult butterfly emerges from the transparent chrysalis in about two weeks. It pumps its wings with blood stored in its abdomen and rests till the wings are dry and firm.

The adult monarch butterfly flies away as soon as the wings are stiff and starts with a new life cycle.

Migration

A monarch butterfly has four generations in one year. It follows the same migration pattern each year. It cannot survive in cold weathers. So they migrate southwards to Mexico from the Northern states of America. They choose the same trees which their ancestors had perched on the last year. It is hard to believe, but it’s true! They gather in huge numbers during migration. The whole tree looks like it has autumn leaves. But they are thousands of orange monarchs!

This is the only species of butterfly which has the longest migration (about 2500 miles).

Defense

A monarch butterfly does not need any camouflage as they are poisonous to predators. Most predators know this fact. They become poisonous because of their diet which consists of milkweed plants. The toxins of the milkweed plants are poisonous.

Male monarchs have dark spots on their hind wings. These secrete scent during mating season to attract females. The veins on the female monarch wings are thicker than in the males. The life span of monarchs depends on the season they had emerged from the pupa. They live for about two weeks to 8-9 months.

A monarch butterfly is known to be very helpful for the environment because they eat poisonous milkweed plants that generally invade farms.