Monarch Caterpillar

The Monarch butterfly is one of the most beautiful butterflies you’ll ever have the opportunity to see. If you’ve ever seen one, you understand their charm. They are a very popular species. And their name says it all: “Monarch.” The king of all butterflies. There are so many cool things you need to know about them. In their lifecycle, they move from egg to the Monarch butterfly caterpillar, and then from the chrysalis to the adult.

These butterflies are truly a beauty. You’ll have to see one to really understand. And it’s not just because of their colorful wings. They have an intense mass migration system in place and a varied life cycle to help them survive. Let’s find out some more about these amazing creatures.

Things to Know About the Monarch Butterfly

The Monarch butterfly is truly a spectacular species. Even though we call it “Monarch butterfly,” it has a “real” or scientific name, and a very strange one at that: Danaus plexippus . That’s what the scientists call it. It has a very vibrant appearance, and is well-known for its usual yearly trek to other parts of the world.

What Does it Look Like?

The Monarch butterfly and the Monarch butterfly caterpillar have one thing in common. They have a very striking appearance. They both have bold colors that would stand out anywhere.

The upper wings of the adult butterfly are a bright, orange color. This bright color on the wings is knitted with black veins, and each wing has a wide, black border with white spots in it. The black border and veins creates the most stunning contrast against the orange. You simply can’t help but stare at them in wonder. It’s almost like watching a perfect piece of artwork fly by; you just want to reach out and touch it.

But the bright colors of the butterfly wings go far beyond just beauty. It is there to warn predators that it’s poisonous , so they’d better stay away. The underside of the wing is not quite as bright as the upper side. It’s more of a pale orange color. This lets the butterfly blend in with tree bark and other surfaces when resting, hiding it from possible attackers. How amazing is that?

The male and female butterflies look very much alike. They share the same bright orange color. But the male butterfly is a little bit bigger than the female one. The male butterfly also has a black spot on each of its back wings. Even though these differences seem subtle, they make it very easy for you to tell them apart.

The Monarch caterpillar has some similar qualities. While the colors are different from the butterfly, they are equally remarkable. They have bright, bold, eye-catching colors. The adult caterpillar can grow up to 5 centimeters in length. It has very bright yellow, black, and white bands all along its body. Try to imagine a black and yellow caterpillar crawling by your feet. Simply exquisite. It also has 2 long black filaments at its head, and 2 shorter ones near its rear end.

Even though the bright colors protect the Monarch caterpillar from many predators, there are some invertebrates that are unperturbed by this cunning mechanism; wasps and ants, for example. They are not really affected by the bright colors, so they still manage to prey on these beautiful creatures. It’s just how Mother Nature works – with balance in all things.

What Does it Eat?

The Monarch butterfly eats mostly milkweed nectar. Once the egg hatches, the larva immediately starts feeding on the eggshells. Crazy, right? After that, it starts eating the milkweed plant where it was placed. It eats the nectar from the milkweed plant until it grows into an adult caterpillar.

The milkweed plant has poisonous substances that birds and other predators don’t like. Once the caterpillar eats this, it absorbs the poison. So when a predator tastes the caterpillar or butterfly, it is immediately turned off by the taste; and this stops them from trying to eat the insects in the future.

The adult Monarchs have a little bit more variety in their diet sometimes. At the early part of the season, before the milkweeds start to bloom, they will eat from many different flowers, such as the lilac, lantana, dogbane, red clover, and thistles. In the fall, they usually visit composites, including goldenrods, tickseed sunflower, ironweed, and blazing stars.

Migration – Where Do They Go?

The Monarchs make a 3,000 mile trek between Canada and Mexico every single year in the fall. Interestingly, though, only the ones born between late summer and early fall are able to make the journey. By the time winter comes around next year, many summer generations would have already lived and died .

So to simplify, the first set makes the trip. After that, the next set that makes the 3,000 mile trip would be that first set’s great grandchildren. This is because of how their life cycle is set up. But for some reason, the newer generations seem to know the exact route their ancestors took on their journey. Sometimes, they even end up returning to the same tree!

Lifecycle of the Monarchs

The lifecycle of the Monarchs is definitely something you should take note of. There are four different stages in the lifecycle. They start out as eggs; then hatch into larvae; then change into pupa (a.k.a. chrysalis); and then they grow into adult butterflies. At least four different generations of butterflies go through these four stages each year.

From Eggs to Caterpillar

Between February and March, the last generation of Monarchs from the year before comes out from hibernation and goes to find a mate. As soon as they are done being chummy with each other, they start their famous 3,000 mile journey to either the north or the east. This is when they go to look for somewhere to put their babies. This also marks the start of the first generation in the present year. It is the beginning of the first stage in their lifecycle.

The mother butterfly lays her eggs individually on different milkweed plants. Usually, she lays one egg per leaf; she just sticks them to the underside of the leaf and that’s it. Four days later, the egg hatches and a caterpillar is born (remember we discussed that it eats its own eggshells immediately?). This baby caterpillar is called a larva (larvae for plural).

When the caterpillar is born, it immediately starts its feeding. It eats almost non-stop, causing it to grow almost 2,000 times its original size in as little as 9 to 14 days. In just that short amount of time, it changes from a mere egg to a beautiful, colorful caterpillar. And then it’s on to the next stage of life.

The Monarch Caterpillar to Chrysalis

After spending a maximum of 14 days as a caterpillar, the Monarch caterpillar finds a good spot to plant itself to start the next stage of its very short life: metamorphosis . In this stage, you might think that the Monarch is just sitting there doing nothing. But you’d be amazed at the rapid changes taking place at this time.

After picking out the perfect stem or leaf to attach itself to, it uses silk to change itself into a chrysalis. It stays like this from 9 to 15 days. So many changes are happening during this phase. On the inside of the chrysalis, the old body parts of the caterpillar are completely changing to form the final butterfly that will emerge. This is the metamorphosis phase.

Just imagine all that has to take place for the Monarch to change from a caterpillar to an insect with wings! It’s quite something.

From Pupa to Beautiful Monarch Butterfly

After spending anywhere from 9 to 15 days seemingly doing nothing, the Monarch caterpillar you saw just about 2 weeks before comes out of its shell as a completely different insect: the fully grown Monarch butterfly.

They emerge as the bold colored butterflies I mentioned before. And this color makes it easy for predators to spot them – which is a good thing. What we see as true beauty, other insects and creatures see as a warning to back off; there’s something poisonous in the air.

Once the adult is out in the world again, it feeds on flowers (mostly milkweed) and just tries to enjoy its very short life on the earth. Sadly, the adult Monarch only lives for about 2 to 6 weeks before passing.

The Following Generations

Within the 2 to 6 weeks of its life, this first generation on Monarchs will have laid eggs to kick-start the life of the second generation. The second generation starts around May or June, and the third generation starts between July and August.

These two generations follow the exact four-stage lifecycle as the very first generation: from eggs to caterpillar, from caterpillar to chrysalis, and from chrysalis to beautiful butterfly. But there is also a fourth generation.

This generation does things a little differently from the others. This generation is born between September and October. It goes through pretty much the same cycle as the other three generations; except for one part.

This special generation lives for far more than two to six weeks. Remember the mass migration previously mentioned? This is the generation of Monarchs that make the trip. This lucky generation gets to live for anywhere between six to eight weeks! In this time, it migrates to other areas in search of somewhere warm to relax.

Climates like Mexico and California are very popular for them. After enjoying its long life in those warmer areas, the fourth generation Monarchs get to work, starting the entire process again – from generation one.

It’s truly amazing how organized these Monarchs are. They are able to work themselves out in a way that allows them to continue living for many, many years, despite their usually short lifespan.

It is quite interesting the way they do it too. Not only does it allow them to live for many years, but it also prevents them from becoming too populous. Nature sure has its ways of making things work!

Conclusion

As you can see, there is a lot to learn about the Monarch butterflies. One of the most outstanding things to note is their breathtaking beauty. Both the Monarch caterpillar and the butterfly are made of bright, bold colors, almost like works of art.

And remember, these bold colors, while a thing of beauty to us, serves a far greater purpose than what meets our eyes. The bright colors act as a warning to potential predators that the insects are poisonous… and it works out to be a very effective defense mechanism.

The Monarch has a very basic diet, consisting mostly of milkweed. Although, strangely, the newly hatched larva will feed on its own egg before eating milkweed plant.

One other thing to remember is the mass migration that the Monarch butterfly takes part in every year. Even though the butterflies have a short two to six week lifespan, there is one generation each year that’s able to make the journey: the fourth generation. And this generation enjoys a much longer life of six to eight months, during which they’ll-start the entire process from the first generation.

Also, remember that the Monarchs have a set lifecycle: From egg to larva, from larva to chrysalis, and from chrysalis to butterfly. And each stage lasts a different length of time. The Monarch egg spends only 4 days as an egg! After that is complete, the larva takes 9 to 14 days to mature into a fully grown Monarch caterpillar. This isn’t too surprising because it eats constantly from birth.

After that, the caterpillar forms a chrysalis to make the transformation into a full-fledged butterfly. It stays like this for anywhere from 9 to 25 days, then boom! Out comes a fully grown, colorful Monarch butterfly.

Sadly, the butterflies only live for about two to six weeks, in which time they have to start the breeding process to allow them to live on.

You can read more about the Monarch caterpillar and butterfly in this special issue of National Geographic . It’s a good reference to have on hand with beautiful photos of each stage of the Monarch butterfly lifecycle.