KINGDOM: Animalia | PHYLUM: Arthropoda | CLASS: Insecta | ORDER: Lepidoptera | FAMILY: Danaidae (milkweed butterflies)

WHAT IS A MONARCH BUTTERFLY?
LIFE CYCLE
ECOLOGY
PEST STATUS
COLLECTING & PHOTOGRAPHY
MONARCH FACTS
MONARCH LINKS
MYTHS, LEGENDS, AND FOLKLORE

Monarch Butterflies are in the family Danaidae, and butterflies in this family are known collectively as the "milkweed butterflies."  The Monarch, Danaus plexippus, is the only memer of this family that occurs in Kentucky.  The monarch is distinct and easy to recognize: it has dark-orange wings with black or dark-brown veins and dark borders with white spots.

As with all butterflies, Monarchs have complete metamorphosis with egg, larval, pupal, and adult stages.

Migration: Unlike most butterflies that occur in Kentucky, the Monarch does not live here year round.  Instead, adult Monarchs spend the winter in Mexico and the southern United States.  In the spring, adult Monarchs fly north, and some of them come to Kentucky.  Here, the females lay their eggs on milkweed plants.  Caterpillars then hatch from the eggs, feed, pupate, and emerge as butterflies.  This whole growth cycle - from egg to adult - takes only about a month.  The adult butterflies will then mate and lay eggs multiple times until they return south in the Fall.

The caterpillars of Monarch butterflies feed exclusively on milkweed plants and a few other, closely related plants, such as dogbane.  Most of these plants occur in "weedy" areas, such as fence rows, the edges of crops, fields, and similar areas.  Adult Monarchs drink nectar from flowers.

The juices in milkweed plants are toxic to most animals, but Monarchs (and a few other insects) have evolved an immunity to the poison.  Because they are able to store the poisons in their bodies, Monarch butterflies and caterpillars taste bad to most predators.  Most birds and other predators will not feed on Monarch butterflies.

Monarch butterflies are not considered pests.

Look for adult Monarchs throughout the summer in open fields, near the forest edge, and around cultivated crops.  They are low-flying and easy to catch, but be sure to use a butterfly net when you capture them to keep from damaging the wings.

Once captured, it is best to keep any butterfly in a "butterfly envelope".  Visit this page to learn how to make your own butterfly envelopes:
http://www.kellscraft.com/butterfly01.html#COLLECTIONS

Monarchs make great photography subjects, but getting a good picture can be a challenge - even when Monarchs aren't flying, they are almost always walking around or moving their wings up and down.  It may be necessary to take many pictures.  Another trick that works with most insects: find a Monarch early on a cool summer morning.  It will still be warming itself and will be less likely to fly away.

Monarch caterpillars are much slower moving than the adults, and are found almost anywhere milkweed grows.  Remember that all insect larvae should be preserved in alcohol.

You can also raise a monarch from caterpillar to adult.  All you have to do is find a monrach caterpillar in tne summer and feed it milkweed until it pupates.  This will take only a few weeks.  Make sure to learn how to identify milkweed plants so that you can give the caterpillar the right kind of food.

It is not an accident that Viceroy butterflies look like Monarch butterflies.  Scientists believe that Viceroys have evolved to look the way they do to take advantage of a Monarch's defense.  Since Monarchs eat milkweed, they are bad-tasting to birds.  Viceroys do not feed on milkweed, and are not bad-tatsing.  But if a bird tries to eat a Monarch and finds that it tastes bad, it will "remember" the way a Monarch looks - it may then avoid eating Viceroy butterflies too.  Read more about insect mimecry at the Natureworks page on Viceroy Butterflies:
http://www.nhptv.org/natureworks/viceroy.htm

The Monarch butterfly is in danger of loosing its habitat.  Read more about threats to the Monarch butterfly in the "monarch links" below.

The Monarch butterfly may be the most well-known and beloved insect species in the United States.  Because of this, and because it is in danger of habitat loss, and there are many webpages devoted to these butterflies.  Here are some of the best:

The Monarch Watch Program from the University of Kansas:
http://www.monarchwatch.org/

The Science Museum of Minnesota's Monarchs & Migration page:
http://www.smm.org/sln/monarchs/

The Texas Monarch Project:
http://www.rice.edu/armadillo/Ftbend/newfly.html

Do you know any myths, legends, or folklore about Monarchs?  Let us know if you do!