Monarch butterfly facts for kids
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D. plexippus
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| Danaus plexippus (Linnaeus, 1758)
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The monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) is a famous insect from the Nymphalidae family. It is probably the most well-known butterfly in North America.
Monarchs are famous for their long yearly migrations. In North America, they fly far south in the fall. Then, they fly back north in the spring. They usually start their journey south around August. They need to reach places where it doesn't frost, because freezing temperatures can kill them. The trip north begins in the spring.
No single butterfly makes the entire round trip. The journey north takes three to four generations of monarchs to complete. A special "super generation" lives longer. These butterflies fly all the way from Canada to Mexico. They spend the winter in the south. In the spring, they lay eggs to start the next generation flying north.
Contents
About Monarch Butterflies
What do Monarch Caterpillars Look Like?
The monarch caterpillar has bright yellow, black, and white stripes. Its head is also striped with yellow and black. It has four black parts that stick out from its body. Two are at each end. They look a bit like antennae. A full-grown caterpillar can be as long as 5 centimeters (2 inches).
What do Adult Monarchs Look Like?
Adult monarch butterflies have a wingspan of about 8.9 to 10.2 centimeters (3½ to 4 inches).
The top side of their wings is orange with black edges and veins. There are white spots along the black edges of the wings. Male monarchs have a special spot on their bottom wing. This spot releases scents that help them attract females. The viceroy butterfly (Limenitis archippus) looks very similar. But it has an extra black band across its bottom wing. The underside of the monarch's wings is a tan-orange color with black veins. The edges of these wings are black with white spots.
A rare white form of the monarch has been seen in places like Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, and the United States. It was first seen in 1896. Scientists who study butterflies and moths (called lepidopterists) named it nivosus. This white form is grayish-white where the wings are usually orange. It makes up less than 1% of all monarchs. However, on Oahu, Hawaii, up to 10% of the monarch populations are white. When a species has two or more forms in the same area, it's called polymorphism.
Where Monarchs Live and Travel
In North America, you can find monarchs from southern Canada all the way to northern South America. Sometimes, they fly to western Europe, even as far as Greece. They can reach Europe by being carried on USA ships. They can also fly there if the weather and wind are just right. Monarchs have also been found in Bermuda, Hawaii, the Solomons, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Australia, New Guinea, Ceylon, India, the Azores, and the Canary Islands.
Monarch Butterfly Migration
Monarch butterflies are famous for their long yearly migration. In North America, they fly south starting in August, before the first frost. Then, they fly north in the spring. No single butterfly makes the whole round trip. Female monarchs lay eggs for the next generation during these long flights.
By the end of October, monarchs living east of the Rocky Mountains fly to Mexico. Many thousands from the Great Lakes region pass through Point Pelee National Park. They migrate to special sanctuaries in the Mariposa Monarca Biosphere Reserve. This reserve is in the Mexican states of Michoacán and Mexico. Most monarchs west of the Rocky Mountains do not travel all the way to Mexico. Instead, they spend the winter (overwinter) in many places in central and southern California.
While in Mexico, millions of monarchs gather to rest. They cling tightly to trees and bushes with their feet. They even cling to each other, forming layers of resting butterflies. This amazing discovery was made by Fred Urquhart from the University of Toronto. He studied monarch butterflies for almost 40 years. He knew monarchs migrated because they would disappear after a certain time of year. He put a label on each monarch he found. The label had his name, address, and a request to send him the butterfly if it was found.
A few months later, people from all over North America and Mexico started returning his labeled butterflies. Mexico was the farthest south he received a butterfly from. So, he began traveling there to look for the monarchs. For many years, he traveled through jungles, walked through forests, and talked to local people. He finally heard about a place west of Mexico City where many monarchs had been seen together. After a long search, he found millions of monarch butterflies covering everything in the area.
During the spring migration, the monarchs east of the Rocky Mountains may fly as far north as Texas and Oklahoma. The second, third, and fourth generations then return to their northern homes in the United States and Canada in the spring.
Monarch Habitats
Monarchs can live in many different kinds of places. When they are breeding, they are found in areas with milkweed (a type of plant). These places include fields, meadows, prairies, parks in or near cities, gardens, and roadsides. During migration, monarchs can be found in almost any type of habitat. They spend the winter in pine, cypress, and eucalyptus groves in California. In Mexico, they overwinter in fir forests and pine groves.
Sadly, much of the monarch's breeding habitat is no longer good. In some states and provinces, milkweed is seen as a weed. People kill it to stop livestock from eating it and getting sick. With fewer milkweed plants, monarchs have less space to breed.
Habitat destruction has become a big problem. The number of monarch butterflies that flew to their winter home in Mexico dropped to its lowest level in 2013. This was mainly due to extreme weather and changes in farming in North America. The Mexican forest area covered by butterflies, once as large as 50 acres, shrank to only 2.94 acres in December 2012.
Monarch Life Cycle
The monarch butterfly goes through complete metamorphosis. This means it changes completely during its life.
Egg Stage
The female monarch lays her eggs one by one. She usually lays them on the underside of milkweed leaves. The eggs are light yellow when laid. After three to four days, they turn dark gray. An egg weighs about 0.54 milligrams. It is about 1.2 millimeters long and 0.87 millimeters wide.
Caterpillar Stage
The caterpillar hatches from the egg. A young caterpillar is gray-black with a black head. After its first molt (when it sheds its skin), the caterpillar becomes banded with yellow, black, and white stripes. Its head is also striped. It has four black parts that look like antennae, two at each end of its body. The caterpillar can grow up to 5 centimeters (2 inches) long. It eats the leaves and flowers of the milkweed plant. It doesn't build nests or shelters. It grows very fast, so it sheds its skin four to five times.
Chrysalis Stage
After the caterpillar sheds its skin for the last time, it forms a chrysalis. A chrysalis is not the same as a cocoon. The monarch caterpillar attaches its back end to a support. It then hangs upside down in the shape of the letter 'J'. The caterpillar's body changes inside. Its skin splits open to form the beautiful blue-green chrysalis. This chrysalis has a band of black and bright gold near the top. It also has other gold spots lower down. After several weeks inside the chrysalis, the adult butterfly finally emerges.
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A mating pair of monarchs
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A female monarch laying eggs
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Eggs on a milkweed plant
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Caterpillar
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Chrysalis
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Monarch coming out of its chrysalis
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An adult monarch
Butterflies That Look Like Monarchs
The viceroy (Limenitis archippus) looks like the monarch but is smaller. It has an extra black band across its bottom wing that the monarch does not have.
The queen (Danaus gilippus) is a dark reddish-brown instead of orange. It does not have black veins. It has white spots near the edge of its top wing, on both the top and bottom sides.
The soldier (Danaus eresimus) is also dark reddish-brown. It has thin, black veins. The underside of its bottom wing has a dark center. It has light brown, square-shaped spots around this dark center.
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Viceroy
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Queen
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Soldier
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How Monarchs Protect Themselves (Mimicry)
Monarchs taste bad and are poisonous. This is because they have a chemical called cardenolide. This chemical slows the heart-beat of vertebrates (animals with backbones). Monarch caterpillars get this chemical when they eat milkweed.
When the monarch becomes a butterfly, it stops eating milkweed. But it still has the chemical in its body. The butterfly's bright orange and black wings warn others that it's not good to eat. This is called warning coloration. If a bird tries to eat a monarch, it will get sick and vomit. After this bad experience, the bird learns not to eat another monarch. It also learns not to eat any other butterfly that looks similar. The viceroy looks like the monarch, but it does not have the milkweed poison. Birds that have eaten a monarch and gotten sick will usually avoid eating a viceroy too. This is an example of Müllerian mimicry.
Threats to Monarchs
Monarch Predators
Monarchs that spend the winter in Mexico are often eaten by black-headed grosbeaks. These birds are immune to the poison. Other birds, like orioles and jays, have learned to eat only the thoracic muscles and the body parts inside the abdomen. These parts have less poison. Some mice are also immune to large amounts of the poison. As winter goes on, monarchs become less poisonous. This makes them more likely to be eaten by predators. In Mexico, about 14% of overwintering monarchs are eaten by birds and mice.
On Oahu, Hawaii, there is a white form of the monarch. This is because two species of birds were brought there in 1965 and 1966. These birds are the red-vented bulbul and the red-whiskered bulbul. They are now the most common insect-eating birds. They are probably the only birds that eat insects as big as the monarch. Monarchs in Hawaii have low levels of the poison. The birds might be immune to the chemical. These two bird species eat the caterpillars and sometimes the chrysalids. They look for them on branches and under leaves of milkweed bushes. The birds also eat resting adult monarchs and females laying eggs. They eat flying monarchs less often. The white form of the monarch has a better chance of living than the orange one. The white form doesn't look like what the birds expect a monarch to look like, so it is not eaten as much. This type of defense is called apostatic selection. The white form is also camouflaged in patches of light shining through groups of leaves.
Monarch Parasites and Diseases
Parasites that affect monarchs include the tachinid flies Sturmia convergens and Lesperia archippivora. Caterpillars with Lesperia archippivora maggots inside them will finish their last molt. They then hang upside down on a flat surface. They die before they can turn into a chrysalis. Then, a white maggot comes out of the caterpillar and forms a brown pupa on the ground.
The bacteria Micrococcus flacidifex danai also infects caterpillars and causes a disease called “black death.” Just before turning into a chrysalis, the caterpillar will find a flat surface. They die a few hours later, and their body quickly turns black. Another bacteria, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, causes infections in weak insects. It is a common cause of death for insects raised in labs.
Monarchs and Humans
The monarch is the state insect of Alabama, Idaho, Illinois, Minnesota, and Texas. It is the state butterfly of Vermont and West Virginia. In 1990, it was suggested to be the national insect of the United States of America, along with the honeybee (Apis mellifera). However, the law did not pass.
Many people like to attract monarchs by growing a butterfly garden with plants like Asclepias physocarpa. Others enjoy raising them for fun or for educational reasons. Special sanctuaries have been created for migrating monarchs. These sanctuaries are in the monarchs' favorite places to spend the winter. These migrations also bring a lot of tourism revenue to those areas.
Many schools also enjoy taking care of monarchs. They start with caterpillars. When the caterpillars mature into butterflies, they are then set free into the wild.
Some organizations, like the Cape May Bird Observatory, have monarch labeling programs. Small labels are placed on the butterfly's wing. These labels have information that helps scientists track the monarchs during their migration. It also helps scientists study the paths that monarchs take.
What Adult Monarchs Eat
Adult monarchs drink nectar from many different nectar plants. Here are some of them:
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Male monarchs also drink water and get minerals from damp soil and small, wet rocks. This is called puddling. Monarchs have even been seen puddling at an oil stain on pavement!
What Monarch Caterpillars Eat (Food Plants)
Here is a list of plants that the monarch caterpillar eats:
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Images for kids
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Egg
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Size comparison between an eastern black swallowtail caterpillar (top), a monarch caterpillar (middle), and a queen caterpillar (bottom) all on a human hand
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An emergent monarch clinging to its chrysalis shell
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String of monarchs wintering at California's Pismo State Beach Monarch Preserve (2015)
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Monarch flying away from a sunflower in Mexico
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Mating monarchs in captivity
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Monarch feeding from marigold flower
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An adult monarch sucking nectar from Salvia clevelandii
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Migrating monarchs resting on a pine tree in Fire Island National Seashore on Long Island, New York (September 2021)
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Western monarch populations from 1997 to 2013 (from Xerces Society data)
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Area covered by monarchs (D. plexippus, eastern migratory population) in their overwintering areas in Mexico between 1993 and 2018
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Pteromalus cassotis on monarch chrysalis
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A monarch waystation near the town of Berwyn Heights in Prince George's County, Maryland (June 2017)
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See also
In Spanish: Mariposa monarca para niños
