Monarch ButterflyThe Famous ButterflyEverybody loves the Monarch butterfly. They are seen all across the United States. They are bright orange with black edges on their wings. There are white dots in the black edges. The forewing usually is a little brighter orange than the hindwings. This is especially noticeable on the underside of their wings. The veins in their wings are black. Their body is black with white dots on it.
Monarch Butterfly MigrationThey are famous for their beauty, courage and tenacity. What do I mean? Every year they migrate up to 2,000 miles. How can a little butterfly fly 2,000 miles? I told you they have courage!It is especially interesting that they never have been where they are going. Their grand parents or ancestors flew there, but they never have. They actually fly to the same trees that their family members sat on in previous years. How do they know where they are going, if they have never been there? This is a very interesting question scientists have tried to answer. They think the the Monarch butterfly sense the magnetic field in the earth. I believe it is God helping them get where they need to go. 
They fly south in the United States down to Florida and then out across the Gulf of Mexico to Mexico. Some follow the gulf coast to Texas and then go to Mexico. Some fly out of California, too. You will see large numbers of them congregating getting ready to fly south. I was going to school in Saltillo, Mexico in the mid-sixties to supposedly learn Spanish. There was a large interior courtyard in the school with plants and trees. One morning the school secretary came to the classroom and told everybody to go to the courtyard. We didn't know why? We thought maybe it was a fire drill or something. When we got there we saw the trees literally covered with Monarch butterflies. It seemed like there was one on every leaf. It looked like the tree was flowering. What a privilege to see them. They go to the mountains in Mexico. By mid-November the fir trees in the area where they overwinter are covered with them. Then about mid-March they start back north. When they get into the southern United States they lay some eggs and die. The eggs hatch and those youngsters keep flying north up into many different states. Then in the fall, they start heading back to Mexico where they have never been before. It may be a generation or more since they left Mexico in March, but they go right back to the same area and trees where their ancestors over wintered. Amazing! What courageous little beauties! Butterfly Life Cycle
The life cycle of the butterfly is very interesting. I mentioned that they lay eggs. The eggs are tiny white eggs. The photo at the left is of butterfly eggs, but I don't know that they are from a Monarch butterfly. 
The eggs hatch into a caterpillar. The Monarch Butterfly larva, as the caterpillar is called is very boldly marked and it has fleshy horns sticking up on each end of it's body. It has a voracious appetite as all caterpillars do. It feeds on milk weeds. There are many different milk weeds throughout the states.
It sheds it's skin and reveals a soft pupa on the inside. In a few hours it hardens into a chrysalis. The chrysalis photo at the left is of an unknown butterfly. One of the most interesting facts about butterflies, is how the butterfly forms inside the chrysalis? Only God knows.
It hangs onto the chrysalis shell for awhile and starts pumping fluid from it's body into it's wings. The wings expand as it pumps fluid from it's body to the wings. After the wings are fully expanded they are still wet. So the butterfly hangs there for a couple of hours until it's wings dry. The wonder of it all! You have a brand new Monarch Butterfly.
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Before the butterfly emerges the chrysalis becomes transparent and you can see the butterfly on the inside. It come out head first. When the butterfly emerges from the chrysalis it's body is very large and full of fluid. The wings are small. 
