Highlighted Species:
Monarch Butterfly caterpillar
Danaus plexippus
(Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae)
Image 1: A well-developed caterpillar moves up and down the milkweed stalk looking for fresh leaves. (Naterpillar, 2024).
About:
A true icon, the monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) is one of North America’s most recognized insect species. Flashy orange and black wing patterns warn predators of its toxicity, gained from the milkweed plants it consumes as a caterpillar. Populations migrate between 1,000-3,000 miles each winter to a nesting site in northern Mexico. Thanks to national conservation efforts, their decimated population is back on the rise again.
Images 2-3: Nat poses her nails on healthy milkweed leaves. (Naterpillar, 2024).
The monarch butterfly migrates north during the summer, mating along the way. Up to four generations of butterflies may make this journey each year. After mating, the female lays several individually-placed round eggs on the underside of a milkweed (Asclepias spp.) leaf. Once hatched, the monarch caterpillar will eat milkweed leaves and molt several times, growing in size and gaining characteristic bold stripes.
Milkweed plants contain a type of cardiac glycoside called cardenolides, which act as a defense against predation. However, monarchs co-evolved with this plant and became able to consume and sequester these chemicals in their bodies, becoming toxic to predators themselves. Caterpillars may spend anywhere from 5 days to 2 weeks eating leaves before attaching to the underside of a milkweed leaf to make their chrysalis. Around late summer to early autumn, the last generation of butterflies will pupate and begin the migration back south. Their life span will be longer than all previous generations, allowing them to survive the trip.
Images 4-5: Nat poses the manicure next to a plump caterpillar. (Naterpillar, 2024).
Do you think my monarch friend likes this homage? I chose to represent the irregular yellow, white, and black bands of a caterpillar who has already had several molts.
Resources:
MassAudubon. (2024). Monarch Butterflies. https://www.massaudubon.org/nature-wildlife/insects-arachnids/monarch-butterflies
Monarch Joint Venture. (2024). Life Cycle. https://monarchjointventure.org/monarch-biology/life-cycle
U.S. Forest Service. (2024). Monarch Butterfly Biology.
United States Department of Agriculture, United
States Forest Service. https://www.fs.usda.gov/wildflowers/pollinators/Monarch_Butterfly/biology/index.shtml
