The Monarch Life Cycle

The Monarch Life Cycle

•The monarch butterfly is seen in our area from May until October.•Its life cycle is about 4 – 6 weeks.•Female monarchs each lay hundreds of eggs during this time.•Monarchs only lay their eggs on the milkweed plant. •Monarchs only lay 1 egg per leaf.

The Monarch Egg

•The egg of a monarch is placed under the milkweed leaf to keep it safe from predators & weather.

•It is a cream color.

•It is igloo-shaped.

•There are vertical lines that go up & down the sides of the egg.

•Soon the creamy egg turns grey as the caterpillar inside develops a black head.•The caterpillar will hatch in 3 – 6 days.

The Monarch Caterpillar

•The caterpillar chews its way out of its shell. This is its 1st meal.•The baby caterpillar is about 1/16 of an inch.•After 6 hours, it begins to develop its black, yellow, & white stripes.

•From now on, the monarch caterpillar will only eat milkweed.

•As the monarch caterpillar grows, its skin becomes too tight & must be shed.•Each stage after a shed is called an instar.•Monarchs go through 5 sheds.•After the sheds, monarchs eat their skins.

Getting Ready for Metamorphosis•After the 4th instar, the monarch caterpillar begins to wander. This is called “a walk-about”.•It uses its spinneret to squeeze out a silk trail to crawl along.

•When it finds the perfect spot, the monarch caterpillar weaves a silky clump, or button, to which it will attach itself during its last stage of being a caterpillar.•After the button is made, the monarch will attach itself by using the cremaster to hook onto it.

•This is called the “J stage”.•The monarch is ready to go into its fifth & last shed.

The Chrysalis

•The monarch begins to wiggle & its skin begins to split.

• The monarch is now in the pupa stage.

•This lasts about 14 days.

•The monarch is now a chrysalis.

•The chrysalis is the hard, clear outer shell.•Inside, the monarch breaks down into a soupy mixture.•It reforms into an orange & black butterfly.•This magical change is called metamorphosis.

The Monarch Butterfly

•When the butterfly is ready to emerge from the chrysalis, it releases a liquid that loosens it from the shell.•Then its middle swells & pops the shell.•The butterfly emerges & hangs onto the chrysalis.

•The monarch pumps the liquid from its abdomen into its wings.•It takes about 30 minutes for the wings to reach their full size.

Male

Female

•The monarch butterfly only drinks nectar through its proboscis.