The Life Cycle of a Monarch Butterfly A presentation by Nicole Gaughan

You Will Learn…. What a life cycle is The life cycle of a Monarch butterfly The stages a Monarch butterfly goes through Some vocabulary terms that go along with the stages

Life Cycles A life cycle is all the changes that happen to an organism between birth and death. A life stage is a change or event that happens at one point of life. Metamorphosis is a series of life stages that an insect goes through to become and adult. Butterflies have four life stages during their life cycle.

Monarch Butterfly Life Cycle Stages Egg Monarch Butterfly Life Cycle Stages 1. 2. Caterpillar (Larva) 3. 4. Chrysalis (Pupa) Adult Butterfly

Stage 1: The Egg found on the underside of milkweed leaves tiny, round and oval in shape and size hatches in 3-5 days when the weather is warm

Stage 2: The Caterpillar (or larva) long and worm like usually brightly colored with an interesting pattern sheds its skin a couple of times because it’s growing bigger stays a caterpillar for about 14 days

Stage 3: The Chrysalis (or pupa) transformation stage caterpillar spins a cocoon (a silk covering) made when a caterpillar spins silk and attaches itself to a branch starts out a green color and then turns brown and orange takes 10-12 days for the butterfly to be ready Butterfly emerging from the chrysalis

Stage 4: Adult Butterfly the butterfly is fully developed it doesn’t grow anymore it can only eat liquids usually lives for 14-42 days

Summary Life Cycle Stages: 1. Egg: found on leaves and stems of milkweed plants, tiny, oval in shape and hatches in 3-5 days 2. Caterpillar: long and worm like, usually brightly colored with an interesting pattern and sheds its skin a couple of times because it’s growing bigger 3. Chrysalis: transformation stage, usually brown or green, made when a caterpillar spins silk and attaches itself to a branch and takes 10-12 days for the butterfly to be ready 4. Adult Butterfly: the butterfly is fully developed, it doesn’t grow anymore and it can only eat liquids

Acknowledgements Butterfly stages chart http://www.hhmi.org/coolscience/butterfly/index.html Monarch butterfly picture http://www.kidzone.ws/animals/monarch_butterfly.htm caterpillar picture http://www.kidzone.ws/animals/monarch_butterfly.htm Butterfly eggs picture http://home.vicnet.net.au/~fbpw/but_fly1.htm Butterfly stages information http://www.usd.edu/esci/age/content/natural_clocks/butterfly/butterfly.html http://home.vicnet.net.au/~fbpw/but_fly1.htm Chrysalis picture http://www.usd.edu/esci/age/content/natural_clocks/butterfly/butterfly.html Butterfly life cycle video http://education.apple.com/education/ilife/project_template.php?project_id=83&subject_id=4 Butterfly emerging from chrysalis website pictures http://www.adver-net.com/Monemerg.html