Interesting Facts~
In this section, you will learn some fascinating facts about the monarch butterfly. This includes some facts about the migration, characteristics, the stages of the life cycle, and the diet.
Facts
1) Monarchs have orange on their wings. This color is considered a warning sign for predators. The predators will know to stay away and not eat them.
2) The first three generations of monarchs live up to four to six weeks and the fourth generation live up to six to nine months in the wild. 3) These butterflies' wingspan is between three and a half to four inches across from tip to tip of the wing. 4) Monarch caterpillars are usually about two and a half inches long. 5) One hundred million monarch butterflies migrate to the south for winter. 6) Monarchs are the only insect that migrate two thousand five hundred miles to Central Mexico and Southern California. 7) Only the fourth generation of monarch butterflies migrate to the south. 8) Four generations hatch during one summer of the year. 9) Female adult monarchs lay several hundred eggs. 10) Monarch butterflies are decreasing because of the loss of their food source. |
11) The monarch butterfly cycle has four stages; egg, larva, pupa, and adult.
12) Adult monarchs can eat from any flower, they don't have to eat the milkweed plants. 13) Monarchs are actually poisonous to other animals who try and eat them. 14) You can distinguish males and females by looking at their wing markings and colorings. Males have a black spot on a vein on the hind wing and females will not have a spot on their wing. 15) The larva or caterpillar sheds its skin five times before going into the pupa stage. 16) In 1983, the International Union for Conservation of Nature listed these beautiful butterflies as a "threatened phenomena" because their habitat are being destroyed. 17) A monarch caterpillar can gain over two thousand seven hundred times its original weight 18) In less than four minutes, a caterpillar can have a whole leaf of the milkweed plant gone. 19) To smell, monarchs must use their antennas. 20) Monarch butterflies use their eyes to find flowers to drink the nectar out. |
21) Butterflies use drafts of warm air to help them glide in the air. This causes them to conserve energy for the long migration journey.
22) Although a single monarch only migrate once a year, they take the same migration route. 23) When a monarch is born out of its pupa, their wings are still wet. They must start pumping their wings in order to let them dry and expand. 24) Caterpillars eat their shedded skins. 25) Monarch butterflies' brain is no bigger than a head of a pin. 26) These types of butterflies are herbivores. 27) The monarch butterfly are known to be called Wanderer Butterflies in Australia. 28) Monarchs are known for making transatlantic crossings. 29) Monarch butterflies have three main body parts, the head, thorax, and abdomen. 30) The four stages of the butterfly life cycle is called "instar." |