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The monarch butterfly or simply monarch (Danaus plexippus) is a milkweed butterfly (subfamily Danainae) in the family Nymphalidae. [6] Other common names, depending on region, include milkweed , common tiger , wanderer , and black-veined brown . [ 7 ]
Life cycle of the monarch butterfly. Butterflies in their adult stage can live from a week to nearly a year depending on the species. Many species have long larval life stages while others can remain dormant in their pupal or egg stages and thereby survive winters. [36] The Melissa Arctic (Oeneis melissa) overwinters twice as a caterpillar. [37]
Monarchs appear in legends of the people that live near overwintering areas. In the areas surrounding the overwintering sites in Mexico, local residents were quite aware of the overwintering behavior of monarch butterflies long before 1975. The local people, called the Mazahua, have lived near the overwintering sites for centuries.
Few insects are as beloved as the monarch butterfly. These fascinating creatures are beautiful, boldly colored and surprisingly strong — the North American monarch migrating thousands of miles ...
The monarch butterfly is easily identified by its bold orange, black and white coloring. This fascinating insect goes through an amazing life cycle consisting of four stages: egg, larvae, pupa ...
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%.
Monarch caterpillars deter predators by incorporating these chemical compounds into their bodies, where the toxins remain throughout the insect's lifetime. [51] Although monarch caterpillars will feed on butterfly weed (A. tuberosa) in butterfly gardens, it is typically not a heavily used host plant for the species. [52]
“The western population is at greatest risk of extinction, having declined by an estimated 99.9%, from as many as 10 million to 1,914 butterflies between the 1980s and 2021.