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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.

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The Monarch Life Cycle

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  1. The Monarch Life Cycle

  2. 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.

  3. The Monarch Egg

  4. 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.

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

  6. The Monarch Caterpillar

  7. 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.

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

  9. 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.

  10. Getting Ready for Metamorphosis • After the 4thinstar, 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.

  11. 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 cremasterto hook onto it.

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

  13. The Chrysalis

  14. 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.

  15. 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.

  16. The Monarch Butterfly

  17. 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.

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

  19. Male Female

  20. The monarch butterfly only drinks nectar through its proboscis.

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