Fun Facts

Monarch Butterfly

The monarch butterfly is not endangered but their numbers have plummeted by 90% in the past decades and there are things you can do to help help them with their migration. Using the sun as their guide monarchs migrate South every fall averaging about 50 miles a day for their 3,000 mile journey and they are the only butterfly that copies birds in this endeavor.

Most of the monarch population travel from as far as Southern Canada to areas of Mexico and Texas roosting in hibernation from November through the the winter. Monarchs produce four generations in one year with the migration taking up to 5. Each generation consists of the complete life cycle’s of four stages: the egg, the larva (caterpillar), the pupa (chrysalis), and adult butterfly. In February and March monarchs come out of hibernation to find a mate then go North to find a place to lay their eggs. Generation 1 begins now in the whole cycle when eggs are laid on milkweed and hatch in 4 days into caterpillars which eat the milkweed for 2 weeks before they attach to the weed and transform into the chrysalis. Inside the chrysalis the metamorphosis occurs and a butterfly emerges which lives for only 2-6 weeks before dying and laying eggs for the generation 2. This whole generational cycle continues all summer until the last one in September or October when the butterfly does not die but migrates to warmer climates where it hibernates for 6-8 months (Doreen G. Howard).

We can help this beautiful butterfly by planting milkweed that is the only thing they eat which contains all the vitamins and minerals needed.