Butterfly Profile: Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus)
All about the majestic Monarch Butterfly who is a member of royalty in the butterfly world, and how to support them in the yard. The monarch butterfly is a beautiful creature, and a very special butterfly that is nothing like other butterfly species. This butterfly has a secret that is hidden within their beautiful wing patterns, which is a way for them to keep safe from predators. You will learn all about this special butterfly, ways to support and attract monarchs to the yard and some fascinating facts about monarchs, perhaps you will uncover what is this butterfly’s secret.
Common Name: Monarch Butterfly
Scientific Name: Danaus plexippus
Older Names: Common Tiger, Wanderer, and Black - veined brown.
Genus: Danaus
Family: Brush - footed Butterflies Family
Status: Endangered
As of December 22, 2023 the monarch butterfly is classified as endangered in Canada. This butterfly went on Canada’s Endangered Species List under The Species At Risk Act.
Description: The Monarch Butterfly is a large sized butterfly that has orange wings with black veins, and white spots on the outside of the wings. It is a very well known butterfly, and the monarch is the most studied butterfly.
Habitat: Monarchs are capable of flourishing in a variety of different habitats such as prairies, meadows, grasslands, roadsides, forests, fields, and backyard gardens.
Life Cycle Of The Monarch Butterfly
A Monarch Egg up close
The actual size of a Monarch Egg
A Monarch Egg almost ready to hatch
Egg: The eggs of the monarch butterfly are very tiny, where they’re the size of the head on a pin or the tip of a pencil. They have a unique longitudinal ridge running from the top to the bottom. The colour of the eggs vary from a yellow to a off white. Females lay the eggs singly on the underside of the foliage, flower buds, flowers, and seed pods on milkweed plants. During the final hours before the eggs hatch into baby caterpillars which is between 12 to 24 hours, there is a small black dot at the tip of the eggs which is visible from the outside. The little black dot at the top of each egg, is actually the little head of the caterpillar waiting it’s turn to hatch. The egg stage in the life cycle of a monarch butterfly lasts between 3 to 5 days, which depends on the temperature and the kind of milkweed that they were laid on.
A baby Monarch Caterpillar
A full sized Monarch Caterpillar
Caterpillar: A newly hatched Monarch caterpillar is the size of the nail on a pinky finger. Baby caterpillars are pale green in colour. As the caterpillars grow into the second instar they go from a pale green colour to still a pale green colour, but they have black stripes on their backs. Once the caterpillars get older they will grow bigger, and have a pattern of yellow, white, and black stripes on their bodies. Baby caterpillars and young caterpillars of Monarchs are usually found on the underside of the leaves. Older caterpillars of Monarchs eat the leaves from the top, and occasionally they will feed on the foliage from the underside. The caterpillar stage of the Monarch lasts between 10 and 14 days.
A Monarch Caterpillar in an upside down J position.
The transformation of a Monarch Caterpillar
A freshly made Monarch Chrysalis
A Monarch Chrysalis that is a few days old
Chrysalis: When a Monarch Caterpillar is full grown, it will stop eating where they will begin to crawl around to find a safe place to pupate. Once they find a good place they will attach their backside to a silk button, this will secure the caterpillar in place. They will hang in an upside down J position for about 8 to 12 hours. Once they’re ready to pupate, they will create a chrysalis by shedding their exoskeleton one last time where they will reveal the skin of the chrysalis. The caterpillar inside the chrysalis will turn to a soupy mixture. A newly made chrysalis is quite fragile, where it is very soft. The new chrysalis needs to sit and dry for about 72 hours, which is a total of 72 hours. In chrysalis form the monarch adapts to the body which is pale green casing, and the body is adored with golden dots. A few days up to a few days before the butterfly emerges, a bit of the veins on the wings of the butterfly that is developing from the inside is visible from the outside. Then about three or two days before the butterfly emerges out of the chrysalis, the chrysalis changes from a pale green colour to a very light greenish grey colour where you can see some orange colouring of the wings from the outside. When it is about 12 to 24 hours before the butterfly emerges, the chrysalis changes to a clear colour where it looks like it is black from the outside even though that isn’t the case, and the whole butterfly that is inside of the chrysalis is visible from the outside. The chrysalis stage in the life cycle of a monarch lasts between 8 to 15 days, depending on the temperatures and the weather outside.
A Monarch Chrysalis that is a light green colour where a little bit of the wing veins are visible from the outside.
A Monarch Chrysalis that is a very pale greenish grey colour where more of the wing veins are visible from the outside.
A Monarch Chrysalis that looks black but in reality it is clear, and more of the butterfly is visible from the outside. This is hours before the butterfly emerges out of it.
A Monarch Chrysalis that is clear in colour, and the whole entire butterfly is visible from the outside. The pleats on the chrysalis are opened at the top. This is about minutes before the butterfly emerges from the chrysalis.
A Monarch Butterfly starting to emerge from it's chrysalis.
A newly emerged Monarch Butterfly
A new Monarch Butterfly hanging upside down drying it's wings.
A photo of a Monarch Butterfly with it's wings closed pollinating Swamp Milkweed.
Adult Butterfly: A mature adult Monarch butterfly emerges out it’s chrysalis, about 10 to 15 days after the caterpillar made it’s chrysalis. When the monarch is ready emerge from the chrysalis the pleats at the top of the chrysalis will open and the chrysalis begins to has some spots that have been popped, which is the areas where the butterfly tried to breath but there is not much air left. It takes the monarch butterfly about 30 seconds up to a minute to emerge out of it’s chrysalis. When a monarch comes out of it’s chrysalis it’s abdomen is swollen and the wings are shriveled and wet. So a newly emerged monarch will hang onto the chrysalis casing or a branch for about 4 to 8 hours, so their wings can dry and the fluid of the abdomen is pumped into the wings. The adult Monarch’s wings are a brilliant orange with black margins and veins, and white spots lining the edges of them. The underside of the wings mirrors this pattern but with a more subdued colouration. Monarch Butterflies exhibit sexual differences, where male and female monarchs look different from one another. The butterfly stage in the life cycle of a Monarch usually lasts about 5 to 14 days, but with monarchs who migrate they live much longer where they can live between 8 months up to 1 year.
A Monarch Butterfly coming out of their chrysalis, and the changes the butterfly goes through after coming out of their chrysalis.
Gender Differences:
Males and females look similar to one another since they're of the same butterfly, but they do have some differences in physical appearance from one another. You will learn about about how to identify a male monarch butterfly as well as a female monarch butterfly, and what is the difference between the two genders.
Male Monarch: Male monarchs are bigger in size. They have narrower, lighter, and thinner veins on their wings. The colour of their wings is a bright orange colour. At the end of their abdomen there are claspers, and a big opening to hook onto a female’s abdomen when it is time to mate. On their two bottom wings there is a small black dot, and a bit of the dots are visible from the outside of their wings.
Female Monarch: Female monarchs are much smaller in size compared to male monarchs. Their wings are smaller than the wings on a male. They have much thicker, and wider veins on their wings. The colour of their wings is a much darker orange, which makes their wings look like a more orangish red or a orangish brown. They don’t have a black dot on each of their bottom wings. Their abdomen is much larger than on a male, and they don’t have claspers at the end of their abdomen.
A few of the reasons as to why monarch butterflies are endangered include loss of habitat, deforestation, the use of pesticides; insecticides and herbicides, disruptions to their migration caused by climate change, the loss of native plants including milkweed, invasive plant species, introduced species, increase in human population, and global warming.
➤ Avoid the use of any chemical including pesticides, insecticides, and herbicides on the property. A chemical like Round Up (herbicide) will kill all the bad plants including the good plants such as Milkweed. A chemical like BTK (pesticide) will not only harm the targeted bugs, but they will harm the good bugs including adult Monarch butterflies and their caterpillars. These chemicals will do more harm than good. Pesticides and Insecticides will affect all stages of the monarch butterfly and other butterfly species, as well as other beneficial insects. Herbicides affect a variety of our native plant species including milkweed where the chemicals inside herbicides will make the plants ill, where the illness don’t show up towards the naked eye. Herbicides will also affect our ecosystems and environment at an alarming rate but slowly. So, keeping your yard and the habitat you created for them chemical free is super important for their survival to adulthood.
➤ Plant a few milkweed species that is native to your area on your property, this will provide a safe place for female monarchs to lay their eggs, and plenty of food for the caterpillars once they hatch from their eggs. The flowers on the milkweed will provide a good source of nectar for adult monarch butterflies, other butterfly species, and beneficial insects.
➤ Plant a few native flowering plants on your property that are excellent nectar sources for monarchs, that are from the list up above which will provide food for adult monarch butterflies and other pollinators.
➤ Plant a few annual flowers from the list up above, that are good nectar sources for monarchs. These will bloom for a long time, and will provide monarchs other options when it comes to food.
➤ Plant one or two of the native ornamental grasses that is on the list up above to attract monarchs to the yard, and these grasses will provide shelter for monarch butterflies, during inclement weather and from potential predators.
➤ Plant one of the native evergreen trees on your property that monarchs like, and are attracted too. Monarchs use Fir trees, and Pine Trees to rest and sleep in at night and to roost in during their fall migration to keep themselves warm and safe from the dark. When planting a native Fir or Pine tree they will provide shelter for many wildlife, and will give monarch butterflies a place to roost at night.
➤ Place several flat rocks all around your backyard including in the gardens, in sunny locations of your property to provide places for monarch butterflies to sun bask in the sun.
➤ Establish a ‘butterfly puddling’ area in your backyard. Select a shallow, flat dish or container and fill it with non-sterilized soil or sand. Incorporate a few flat rocks to serve as resting spots for the butterflies. Add water to the dish or container until the soil is moist but not flooded. Lastly, lightly sprinkle some sea salt on the surface. If you don’t have sea salt, regular salt will do. This setup will attract butterflies and provide them with essential minerals they need for survival. Remember to keep the soil moist and replenish the sea salt periodically.*
➤ Establish a ‘butterfly feeding ‘ area in your backyard. For this select a shallow bowl or a plant saucer. Cut up slices of fermented fruit such as bananas, oranges, peaches, mangos, watermelon, or strawberries. Make sure the slices of the fruit are of good size. For oranges, peaches, and mangos you can leave the skin on these fruits. For bananas, strawberries, and watermelon you can take the skin off of them. Place the slices of fruit on the flat plate, or plant saucer in different locations on it. You can place flat rocks on the flat plate or plant saucer to provide other landing spots for the butterflies. Make sure you replace the fruit slices a few times a day since the fruit will be sitting out in the sun, and will attract other insects. Place the feeding area up high at the level of where ants are unable to get to. Please bring in the butterfly feeding station each night, and bring it back out each morning because this will attract unwanted visitors. *
* While setting up a butterfly puddling station and a feeding station for monarch butterflies and other butterfly species can provide essential minerals, nutrients, and hydration for these mature adult butterflies, it is important to remember that these options are alternative ways to support these butterflies in the yard. But the best way to support them is by planting a variety of native flowering plants, which will provide rich nectar and proper nutrients for mature adult butterflies.
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