Facts about Monarch Butterflies

1. Monarch butterflies live throughout the United States, as well as

Mexico and Canada. 2. Monarch butterflies begin life as eggs and hatch as larvae that eat their eggshells. 3. Monarch butterfly larvae eat milkweed and they need them to live. 4. Monarch butterflies actually go through four stages in their life cycle. They start out as an egg, then hatch into larvae (a caterpillar), and then wrap up in the cocoon, and then they go through the metamorphosis into a butterfly while they are in the cocoon. 5. Female monarch butterflies have several hundred eggs to lay during their short life in the spring time. 6. Monarch butterflies go through four generations each year. 7. Monarch butterflies migrate up to 2,500 miles to get out of the cold weather and hibernate. 8. Only the fourth generation of monarchs can migrate each year because the first three generations die after about six weeks from escaping their cocoons. 9. The first three generations of monarchs hatch from their cocoon state and live for up to six weeks. 10.The fourth generation of monarchs continues to live on for up to six or eight months so that they can migrate to a warmer climate, hibernate, and then start a new first generation in the spring time. 11.Monarch butterflies have a wing span of 3 3/8 - 4 7/8 inches. 12.Monarch butterflies weigh .0095 to .026 oz. (.27 to .75 g) 13.Once a monarch butterfly is an adult it can eat the nectar from any flower not just the milkweed. 14.Monarch butterflies are poisonous to their predators, the chemicals from the milkweed plant that they eat when they are in the larvae stage builds up inside of them and gives them a poisonous defense against predators like frogs, birds, mice and lizards. 15.The monarch butterflies bright orange colors warn predators that they are poisonous. 16.The male monarchs have a black spot on each of the hind wings over a vein. 17.The female monarch butterfly does not have this spot. 18.Monarch butterflies live in open habitats including fields, meadows, weedy areas, marshes, and roadsides.