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Both the milkweed tussock and the monarch caterpillars eat the cardiac glycoside-laden milky sap of milkweed and have evolved mechanisms to retain those toxins in their bodies after metamorphosing ...
As caterpillars, they live exclusively on milkweed. These butterflies migrate in the fall, This fascinating insect goes through an amazing life cycle consisting of four stages: egg, larvae, pupa ...
A monarch caterpillar on milkweed. The fifth-instar larva has a more complex banding pattern and white dots on the prolegs, with front legs that are small and very close to the head. Its length ranges from 2.5 to 4.5 cm (0.98 to 1.77 in). [6] [37] The larvae typically chew through a latex vein to relieve the pressure and feed above it.
Milkweed butterflies are now classified as the subfamily Danainae within the family Nymphalidae; however, the previous family name Danaidae is still occasionally used. [2] The fossil milkweed butterfly Archaeolycorea is known from the Oligocene or Miocene Tremembé Formation of Brazil. It provides evidence that the present milkweed butterflies ...
A monarch butterfly feeding on milkweed. (Shutterstock) The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is pushing for added protections for the monarch butterfly after seeing a population decline of about 80%.
Milkweed plants are a major food source for Monarch and Queen butterfly caterpillars and as with other milkweed plants, it bleeds white latex if a stem is cut and this sap is toxic to some animals and to humans. It also makes Monarch and Queen butterflies taste bad to potential predators, an effective defense mechanism.
Milkweed, of course, is the only food that monarch caterpillars eat, making it crucial for their survival. But here we come to the struggle between creating habitat and pretty landscapes in our yards.
Spores of O. elektroscirrha are ingested by the caterpillars when they eat their egg chorion (shell) after they hatch, and when they feed from infected milkweed. Once the parasite has entered the host's gut , the spores open and emerging sporozoites penetrate the gut wall and migrate to the hypoderm (the layer of cells that secrete the larva's ...