 |
return to category |
| The Monarch butterfly may the easiest of all the butterflies to recognize. It has a wingspan of up to 100 cm! The wings are a bright brownish orange, black or dark brown on the outer margins with to rows of white and/or orange spots and veins which are outlined in black. Each hind wing of the male Monarch has a black pocket which holds its scent. The female is darker with her black veins smudged. Don’t be confused with the Viceroy, which is smaller, has shorter wings and a black line across the hind wing. It mimics the pattern of the adult Monarchs and gains some protection by the resemblance, as Monarchs are distasteful to most predators. The Monarch is the only butterfly that annually migrates both north and south as birds do. This amazing butterfly will migrate a remarkable 3,200 km in one year, sometimes going as far as Hawaii. They will often stop at the same rest stops year after year. From June to August it is a resident in the Algonquin Highlands, found in open habitats including meadows, fields, marshes, and cleared roadsides. The egg, about 0.3 cm in length and laid on Milkweed leaves, is pale green, ribbed, pitted, and is shaped like a lemon with a flat base. The caterpillar is around 5 cm long, white, with black and yellow stripes, and has a pair of flexible filaments (which are usually black in colour) on its thorax and next-to-last abdominal section. The caterpillar host is most Milkweeds including Common Milkweed. Most Milkweeds contain poisons, cardiac glycosides, which are ingested by the caterpillar. They are not affected by these poisons, but store them in their bodies and pass them on to the adults. These poisons are distasteful and cause birds and other vertebrate predators to vomit. After tasting a Monarch, a predator might associate the bright warning colors of the adult or caterpillar with an unpleasant meal, and avoid Monarchs in the future. It takes approximately one month for the egg to mature into an adult. Adults feed on the nectar of Milkweeds. Early in the season before Milkweeds are available, Monarchs drink the nectar from a variety of flowers, including Dogbane and Lilac. In the fall adults may drink the nectar from Goldenrods and Ironweed. |
Danaus plexippus
|
|
|||||
