Monarch Butterfly Essay

The Danaus plexippus also known as the Monarch Butterfly is an insect that many people enjoy. The butterfly is mostly found anywhere in North America. The order of the butterfly is the Lepidoptera and it is apart of the flutter group. The adult Monarch Butterfly eats the nectar from wild flowers and the caterpillars eat milkweed. The size of the butterfly is also not very large with the wingspan being ten centimeters and weighs less than one gram. The life cycle of the monarch butterfly is usually short but their life cycle is very long. At the start of the cycle the butterfly egg takes about seven to nine days to hatch. After this first stage it then takes five weeks to develop to the instars phase. The butterfly takes nine days to turn
Predators of the butterfly include birds that can eat the butterfly without getting sick because they can tolerate the toxins in the butterfly. Some birds can even remove the toxins and continue to eat the butterfly. Other insects such as ants and wasps can eat the larvae of the butterfly because they also can tolerate the toxins.

There is a great relationship between the monarch butterfly and the milkweed plant. The milkweed gives the butterfly the nectar it needs and the milkweed is now pollinated. The Monarch Butterflies ecosystem is in meadows and fields that have milkweed near to them. At the beginning of the butterflies life it does not have a niche. Once it turns into an adult it begins to turn into the primary consumer in the food pyramid.
There are many great facts about the Monarch butterfly. The butterfly usually flies at fifteen to twenty miles per hour. Their color spectrum is also wider and they can see many more colors that a human can. There are special spots that only the male butterflies have that distinguish them from females. You will not only find the monarch butterfly in North America but in many other countries. These butterflies are also found in places like Australia and