monarch butterfly
Orange migratory insect
A monarch butterfly is a large North American butterfly with distinctive orange and black wings.
Monarchs are famous for their annual migration, traveling thousands of miles between Mexico and Canada.
Their caterpillars feed on milkweed, making both larvae and adults toxic to predators.
We watched monarchs passing through on their way south.
- milkweedFlowering latex-bearing plant
- chrysalisPupal casing for metamorphosis
- viceroyRoyal colonial governor
- metamorphosisProfound biological restructuring
- life cycleOrganism's full developmental sequence
caterpillar · Day of the Dead · diapause · Mexico · aerial navigation · mimicry · nectar · migration · host plant · larvae · pollinator · warning coloration · stripes · transformation · graceful · delicate · fragile · mass migration
- California natureCalifornia condor, California poppy, California sea lion, coast redwood, redwood
- Midwest naturetallgrass prairie, Great Lakes, Great Plains, bison, white-tailed deer
- migratory insectspainted lady, desert locust
- milkweed butterfliescommon crow, clearwing, tree nymph, paper kite
- insectsant, ants, bee, bees, beetle
- forest lifesquirrel, fox, rabbit, owl, woodpecker
monarch butterflymoth
Night-flying lepidopteran
luna moth · gypsy moth · clothes moth · hawk moth · pantry moth
monarch butterflyskipper butterfly
monarch, butterfly, butterflies, monarchy, monarchical, monarchist, butterflied, butterflying, monarchies