Monarch Butterflies

Objectives You will know the life cycle of the monarch butterfly. You will know the body parts of the monarch butterfly. You will know about the defense and migration of the monarch butterfly.

What do you already know about monarch butterflies?

The Life Cycle Egg Caterpillar / Larva Chrysalis / Pupa Adult (Butterfly)

Egg The egg is sticky. It is laid on the bottom of a milkweed plant leaf. It hatches in a few days.

Caterpillar / Larva It hangs upside down on the milkweed plant. The caterpillar, also known as the larva, eats the eggshell and the milkweed leaves. The caterpillar molts, or sheds, its skin about five times. It hangs upside down on the milkweed plant.

Chrysalis / Pupa The caterpillar then forms a chrysalis, or pupa, around its body. The chrysalis is green with dots. Later it becomes clear and an orange and black butterfly can be seen inside. This change is called metamorphosis.

Adult (Butterfly) The adult butterfly comes out of the chrysalis in about two weeks. It pumps liquid into its wings from the abdomen. The wings must dry before the adult can fly.

The Body Parts Six legs are attached to the thorax. The monarch butterfly has three main parts: the head, the thorax, and the abdomen. It has two antennae for touch and smell. It has a compound eye which means it is made up of many lenses. It has four wings. The fore wings are the upper wings and the hind wings are the lower wings. Six legs are attached to the thorax. It tastes with its feet! The butterfly sucks nectar through the proboscis.

Video Clip of the Birth of a Monarch Butterfly http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-sKCGHLHiY

Defense The monarch is protected from predators because of its bad taste. Birds get sick from eating it. Another butterfly, called the viceroy, look similar to the monarch but does not have the bad taste. Birds stay away from both of these butterflies.

Migration They can migrate four thousand miles to find a warm climate. Monarch butterflies migrate each year in the fall. They fly during the day. They can fly twelve miles per hour. They can migrate four thousand miles to find a warm climate. They often rest in trees. Sometimes these look like butterfly trees.

Summary of What We Have Learned The monarch butterfly’s life cycle is made up of four stages. These are the egg, caterpillar / larva, chrysalis / pupa, and adult (butterfly). The butterfly has three main body parts. These are the head, thorax, and abdomen. The other parts include the antennae, compound eyes, four wings, six legs, and the proboscis. The monarch is protected from predators because of its bad taste. The Viceroy looks similar to the monarch but does not have the bad taste. The monarch migrates each year in the fall and can fly an average of twelve miles per hour. They rest in trees which then look like butterfly trees.

Quiz Time! Now that we know all about monarch butterflies we are going to take a little quiz. I hope you were paying attention! I will hand out a worksheet which will ask you to label the life cycle and the body parts of the monarch butterfly, and also answer a few questions on defense and migration.

Classroom Monarch Butterflies We are going to have our own monarch butterflies in the classroom!

Acknowledgements “Monarch Butterfly Migration”. Monarch Butterfly Journey North. 20 February 2008. http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/monarch/AboutFall.html “Monarch Butterfly”. Enchanted Learning. 2 March 2008. <http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/butterfly/species/Monarch.shtml>. “The Monarch Butterfly”. Kid Zone. 28 February 2008. <http://www.kidzone.ws/animals/monarch_butterfly.htm>

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