Monarch Butterflies are so beautiful. This is the first one I have seen in my garden this year, lots of others, but not the Monarch.
Monarchs feed on milkweeds or butterfly weeds. In the early fall they lay their eggs on the leaves of the plant. Females lay about 400 eggs. The larvae feed on the leaves of the milkweed and turn into beautiful and black striped caterpillars. They completely stripped this plant last year in one day. They then made a jade green crysalysis that hang upside down from the stems, later a beautful butterfly emerges. The milkweeds have a toxic white sticky sap that the larvae feed on, therefore, birds no any other preditors will eat the butterfly.
They fly south to Mexico and Southern California to winter there and then return in the spring.
2 comments:
Really pretty! I love the contrast between this butterfly and that fix-a-flat fungi thing. :) What a Creative God we have!
You're not seeing Monarchs because they are still in Lewisville. I had three in the backyard yesterday helping me - so beautiful and elegant.
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