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The
Monarch is easily North America's best recognized butterfly. Common
throughout the U.S. and southern Canada, the Monarch is found just about
everywhere there are open, sunny areas. The Monarch's caterpillars feed
almost exclusively on milkweed plants which contain toxins that render
both the larva and adult butterflies extremely distasteful to predators.
It is thought the dramatic orange and black markings of the adult
butterfly advertise its unpalatability, detering attack. (Such
coloration is known as aposematic, or warning color). In any
event, the emetic qualities of the toxins quickly discourage any animal
foolhardy enough to eat one. The
Viceroy
and
Queen butterflies sport similar color patterns and share the
same host plants - thereby reinforcing the lesson across the species. |
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Annually, hundreds of millions of monarch butterflies from the eastern
U.S. and Canada migrate to central Mexico - a trip of as much as 2,000
miles. There, they overwinter in protected areas in the mountains in a
state of diapause, living off fat reserves much the same way hibernating
mammals do. Far Western and Sierra Nevada Monarchs fly to the central
and southern coasts of California, overwintering in Pacific Grove and
other locales. Winter butterflies are sluggish and do not rproduce; they
venture out in search of nectar on warm, sunny days. The winter
survivors begin their journey northward about mid-March, laying millions
of eggs in the southern U.S. As each generation hatches, they move
progressively farther north and continue the cycle until their entire
range has been repopulated for the summer. Both Mexican and
international efforts are underway to protect the millions of Monarchs
that flock to California and Mexico. In California, nearly all the
roosting sites face pressure from development and urban sprawl.
Habitat: Open, sunny areas, especially weedy field and
meadows. Host Plants: Various milkweeds, including common
milkweed (Asclepias syriaca), scarlet milkweed (A. curassavica) and
Dogbane (Apocynum). Chrysalis is jade green, studded with gold.
Successive broods April through June progressing northward, September to
October migrating southward. Winters in coastal Monterey Pine and
Monterey Cypress, Eucalyptus groves in California and Fir forests in
Mexican mountains.
Nectar Sources:
New
England Aster
(Aster novae-angliae),
Beggarticks
(Bidens spp.),
Purple
coneflower
(Echinacea purpurea),
Black-eyed
Susan
(Rudbeckia hirta), goldenrods (Solidago spp.), and various
species of thistle (Cirsium sp.)
Range: Nearly all of North
America. Absent from Alaska and Pacific Northwest coast. Resident
year-round in Hawaii, established in Australia.
Learn more about Monarch butterfly migration
here .
Learn why genetically engineered corn is not harmful to Monarch
butterflies, at the
USDA website. |
