What are the body parts of a monarch butterfly?
The three body parts are the head, thorax (the chest), and abdomen (the tail end). The four wings and the six legs of the butterfly are attached to the thorax. The thorax contains the muscles that make the legs and wings move.
What does the body of a monarch butterfly look like?
The butterfly’s body is black with white markings. Monarch caterpillars are striped with yellow, black, and white bands, and reach lengths of two inches (five centimeters) before metamorphosis. They have a set of antennae-like tentacles at each end of their body.
What are the 4 stages of a monarch butterfly?
Monarch butterflies go through four stages during one life cycle and through four generations in one year. The four stages of the monarch butterfly life cycle are the egg, the larvae (caterpillar), the pupa (chrysalis), and the adult butterfly.
Where do Monarch butterflies sleep at night?
At night, or during inclement weather, most butterflies perch on the underside of a leaf, crawl deep between blades of grass or into a crevice in rocks, or find some other shelter, and sleep.
How do butterflies protect their self?
Some butterflies protect themselves through camouflage—by folding up their wings, they reveal the undersides and blend in with their surroundings. Through this strategy, known as crypsis, they become nearly invisible to predators. Bright colors and distinctive wing patterns can, however, be advantageous.
They rest with eyes open, typically hidden amid the foliage and hanging upside down from leaves or twigs in trees and shrubs. At night, they drowse in evergreen and broad-leaved trees and shrubs, fallen leaves, pieces of bark, or in a rock crevice or brush pile equipped with many nooks and crannies.
What is the monarch butterfly predator?
Birds such as black-backed orioles and black-headed grosbeaks are common predators at monarch overwintering sites. These species can eat large quantities of monarchs without getting poisoned.
What do you need to know about monarch butterflies?
A flutter of Monarch butterflies during migration. Monarch caterpillar, gorging on milkweed. Monarch butterfly feeding. Beautiful Monarch butterfly sipping nectar. Monarch butterfly, wings splayed. A flutter of Monarch butterflies during migration. The monarch has similar coloration to, and is frequently mistaken for, the viceroy butterfly.
What’s the difference between a viceroy butterfly and a monarch?
Viceroy butterflies are considerably smaller than monarchs, and have an additional black stripe on the rear wing. Monarch’s wings are orange in color, with black or dark-colored margins and veins. The margins, or outer edges, of the wings are also dotted with white spots.
How are monarch, Queen, and black swallowtail butterflies alike?
The caterpillars of the Monarch, Queen, and Black Swallowtail all feature white, yellow and black markings. But which one are you seeing? Check the images below for the differences between the three caterpillars. Note that the Queen Butterfly caterpillar has three sets of fleshy filaments, one on each end, and one towards its middle.
Where is the nervous system located in a monarch butterfly?
The monarch’s nervous system. Butterflies, like all other insects, have a brain as well as a heart. The center of the butterfly’s nervous system is the sub-esophageal ganglion. This is interesting because the center of the nervous system is actually located in the butterfly’s thorax, as opposed to the head, where most people think it is.
What are the traits of monarch butterfly?
1) Each year, about 4 generations of monarch butterflies occur. 2) A monarch butterfly can migrate up to 3,000 miles away. 3) On average, monarch butterflies weigh less than 1 gram. 4) A female monarch butterfly can lay as much as 1,000 eggs in her lifetime. 5) Monarch butterflies usually live 2-6 weeks long.
What is the average lifespan of a monarch butterfly?
Monarch Butterfly Lifespan. Whereas the entire life cycle of a northward-traveling monarch butterfly takes only between 2 to 5 weeks to complete, the lifespan of a southward-migrating monarch butterfly can be as long as 8 to 9 months.
What is the monarch butterfly useful for?
Despite the small size of monarch butterflies and other insects, they play a very large role in human’s lives. Insects travel to flowering plants, drinking nectar and transporting pollen . This results in a pollination service that is responsible for 1/3 of the world’s food source.
What are the stages of monarch butterfly?
Stages of the Monarch Butterfly. Monarch butterflies go through four stages during one life cycle. The four stages are: the egg, the larvae (caterpillar), the pupa (chrysalis), and the adult butterfly.
