Monarch Butterflies

By Michelle Amezquita-Navarro

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DietThe monarch butterfly is sometimes called the "milkweed butterfly" because its larvae eats the plant. In fact, milkweed is the only thing the larvae can eat! If you'd like to attract monarchs to your garden, you can try planting milkweed.

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How do monarchs eat?

• Adult monarch butterflies sip nectar from flowering plants using a sucking tube, that resembles a soda straw, and is called a proboscis. You can see it coiled under its head when not in use.

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Protection

The milkweed contains a poison that the monarchs use as a defense. While the poison doesn't hurt the monarchs, it makes them taste bad to birds and other predators. Predators soon learn to avoid the bright colors of the monarch caterpillars and butterflies.

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Predators of the Monarch Butterfly

• Ants• Mites• Spiders• Wasps• Birds• Frogs• Mice• Humans

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Habitat

• Australia, South America, Hawaii, Mexico, United States and several other Pacific Islands.

• Anywhere that there are milkweed and flowers for nectar.

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Monarch Butterfly Lifecycle

All butterflies have "complete metamorphosis." To grow into an adult they go through 4 stages: egg, larva, pupa and adult.

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Monarch Butterfly Diagram

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