Animals

The cycle of life for Monarch Butterflies is a wonder of nature. It begins as a tiny egg on a milkweed plant, changes to a larval caterpillar, and then magically undergoes a metamorphosis change into a vibrant colored butterfly.

The mating season begins in late winter/early spring as the weather warms and the Monarchs are ending their winter migration to southern areas. Females search out milkweed plants growing along their route north, and deposit up to one hundred eggs on the milkweed leaves.

The monarch eggs soon grow to tiny caterpillars that molt their skin 5 times while growing and eating milkweed leaves. It then builds its own cocoon (chrysalis) to live in during the metamorphosis process.

Within seven days the chrysalis changes rapidly. The green outside wrapper starts to become clear, allowing you to see the developing black and orange butterfly wings. After the tiny creature has completed its transformation, it breaks its cocoon, and manages to extricate its wet and limp little body.

At this point the adolescent Monarch Butterfly, holding on to its previous shelter for support, pumps fluids into his lifeless wings. Amazingly the wings expand to over fifty times larger. He now rests for several hours, moving his wings and drying/hardening them in the sun.

As the youngster's body begins functioning he is ready to fly away to perpetuate the Monarch Butterfly's cycle of life.

Monarchs that hatch in the spring and early summer have a very short life span of only two to five weeks. Those born in the late summer live the longest, six to nine months. These are the ones that perform the winter migration south, start the return trip but soon die. A new generation comes along and then another, to complete the Monarch Butterfly's return to its most northern areas.

The migration of the previous year was done by those of four to six generations ago, whom the current generation has never met. How in the world does Mother Nature perform this amazing feat?

All Rights Reserved Jim Pratt owner of http://monarch-butterfly.info/

One of Jim's most popular writings is about the Monarch's annual migration to Mexico and California: http://monarch-butterfly.info/Migration.html

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