Monarch Butterfly - Animals Town

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Monarch Butterfly

Type: Bug
Diet: Herbivore
Average lifespan in the wild: Up to 6 to 8 months
Size: Wingspan 3.7 to 4.1 in (9.4 to 10.5 cm)
Weight: .0095 to .026 oz (.27 to .75 g)
Group name: Flutter

What does a Monarch Butterfly look like?
The regal orange and black monarch butterfly is one of nature's marvels. It is famous for its beauty and especially for its travels.

Monarch Butterfly video.

Where do Monarch Butterflies live?
Monarch butterflies are known for the incredible mass migration that brings millions of them to California and Mexico each winter. North American monarchs are the only butterflies that make such a massive journey—up to 3,000 miles (4,828 kilometers). The insects must begin this journey each fall ahead of cold weather, which will kill them if they tarry too long.

What does a Monarch Butterfly eat?
Monarch butterflies begin life as eggs and hatch as larvae that eat their eggshells and, subsequently, the milkweed plants on which they were placed. (Monarchs are dependent on milkweed plants, which larvae eat nearly exclusively.) Fattening larvae become juicy, colorful caterpillars, then create a hard protective case around themselves as they enter the pupa stage. They emerge as beautifully colored, black-orange-and-white adults. The colorful pattern makes monarchs easy to identify—and that's the idea. The distinctive pattern warns predators that the insects are foul tasting and poisonous.

What are the natural enemies of the Monarch Butterfly?
The predators of monarchs are shrews, moles, and other small mammals as well as birds. However, monarch butterflies taste BAD. They can be poisonous to a bird if it eats too many of them. A bird will usually become sick even it it eats only one butterfly. Birds learn that orange and black butterflies are bad for their health and well-being and avoid them. This bad taste and toxicity comes from the milkweed plants that monarchs eat as caterpillars.