An amazing amphibian omnibus

By Zoey McGee | Manor Ink

The monarch butterfly is among the most recognizable, loved and researched insects. You may have spotted a monarch this season; if so, you should be excited. Summer is coming!

Adult monarch butterflies have a three to four-inch wingspan and weigh just .25 to .75 grams. They have bright orange upper wings surrounded by a thick black border with white spots. This border contains interlinked black veins. The underside of its wings is a duller orange which helps camouflage it against tree bark. The monarch caterpillars are striped with black, yellow, and cream bands.

A monarch caterpillar’s diet consists of milkweed. The milkweed contains a toxic compound that prevents predators from preying on the caterpillar. The caterpillar stores those toxins in their body and they remain there into adulthood, protecting it for the remainder of its life. After metamorphosis, the monarch butterfly converts its diet to mostly flower nectar.

Depending on the time of year, monarchs can be found anywhere in the United States with enough nectar flowers and milkweed. They are one of only a few migratory insects and may travel 2,800 miles or more from the northern United States and Canada to the forests in central Mexico, where they’ll hibernate from November to mid-March.

Monarch butterflies mate throughout the spring and summer. The females lay their eggs on the underside of milkweed leaves. Once hatched, the monarch caterpillar eats constantly over the next one to two weeks and will shed its skin many times before creating a chrysalis around itself. The caterpillar remains this way for eight to 12 days while undergoing a metamorphosis. Once the chrysalis turns from green to completely transparent, the caterpillar will emerge from it as a beautiful butterfly.

The monarchs born in early summer have a shorter lifespan than those born later. Those later generations of monarchs migrate to the south and back again, living up to eight months, while those born in early summer remain in the north and live up to about five weeks.

Since 1990, the monarch butterfly population has declined by 90 percent, primarily due to the loss of grassland ecosystems along the butterfly’s migratory flyway. According to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, they are now classified as an endangered species. One way to preserve the remaining monarchs is by planting a butterfly garden, containing nectar plants and milkweed. Not only will the butterflies appreciate this garden, but you will enjoy the sight of more monarch butterflies in your backyard.