The Emergence Of A Monarch

Kids-
We'll be studying the Monarch as part of our insect unit in science this year. Bring some of the Monarch caterpillars in to school if you can find them. Be very careful not to harm them.
Mrs. Clarke

The Monarch larva is usually found on milkweed plants.

Look in the woods and along road sides.

The Monarch chrysalis is a beautiful creation.

About 24 hours before the emergence of the adult butterfly, the chrysalis
becomes completely transparent, revealing the new butterfly inside.

Breaking free of the chrysalis, a Monarch greets the world.

After struggling free of the chrysalis, the Monarch immediately begins to inflate its wings with a reservoir of fluid contained in its swollen abdomen.

As the wings inflate, the body of the butterfly attains its normal proportions.
When the wings are fully inflated, the insect expels any excess fluid and rests.

In a few hours, with its wings dried and hardened,
the Monarch will take wing on its first flight.

The Female Monarch

The male Monarch has perfume pockets to attract a mate.

As the weather gets colder, monarchs begin their annual migration.
Tens of millions of these butterflies spend
the winter in a mountain forest in Central Mexico. Monarchs sometimes cover
whole trees of eucalyptus and pine groves.
In the spring they will make the long journy back north, and lay eggs along the way.
When these eggs hatch into caterpillars, the whole cycle starts over again.

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