Learn More About Monarch Butterflies
Excerpt from Fandex Kids: Bugs. Copyright © 2022 by Workman Publishing.
If you live anywhere where there are Monarch butterflies, you’ve probably noticed them. They’re the large orange-winged butterflies that flit around gardens and prairies with a slow flapping motion. They seem to be taking their time, saying “check me out!” But they’re not as laid-back as they seem; these butterflies are on a tight yearlong schedule!
Monarch butterflies are famous for their migrations. Every year, they fly from northern Mexico all the way across the United States to Canada, and back again. It takes several generations of butterflies to make this journey (Monarchs live just a few weeks) with each successive generation going farther north over the course of the summer. The last and most-northern generation of the year then turns around to start flying all the way back to northern Mexico in late summer, where they spend the winter, only to start the journey again the next summer.
What fuels this epic journey? Lots of milkweed, a flowering plant central to the Monarch’s life. Female Monarchs lay their eggs on the underside of milkweed leaves. Once hatched, Monarch caterpillars eat a lot of milkweed leaves. They have to; after hatching, they need to increase their weight by 2,700 times before metamorphizing and fluttering on their way. Milkweed has other benefits: It’s very toxic, so most predators will avoid Monarch caterpillars, who are immune to it but taste strongly of the stuff.
More About Fandex Kids: Bugs
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