Monarch Butterflies
Monarch butterflies are beautiful creatures. From the outside they look like very fragile and small insects, and it is easy to think that they come and go whenever they please. In reality monarch butterflies are very smart, intelligent creatures which is why they always come to our gardens.
In autumn every year the monarch butterflies must fly south for the winter. Even butterflies have to migrate. Most of the monarch butterflies will migrate to Mexico, and many times you can see trees full of these butterflies. Our cold winters would be far too much for the butterflies to handle, just like birds. Therefore during winter they must live in a very warm and balmy environment. In fact, their summers up here is the cooler part of the year for them.
In spring the monarch butterflies will migrate back up here if the weather cooperates. If we have an early spring and the weather is warm enough, than the butterflies will be up here in May and early June. They might even be up here by late April if we have a very warm spring. If we have a really cold spring than it is the complete opposite. Cold springs do not offer the butterflies enough warmth for them to survive. Therefore they must stay down south for a longer period of time. In fact if the spring is really cold the monarch butterflies may not come up until the end of June or even the beginning of July.
Once the butterflies migrate up here it is time for them to lay their eggs. One of the plants butterflies are most attracted to is the milkweed plant. This plant can be easily recognized. It has large, flat leaves that point upwards and it has a very light purple flower. The plant also produces a milky liquid hence the name milkweed. The monarch butterflies lay their eggs on these milkweed plants. Their eggs look like little white dots on the leaf, and they are very difficult to find. The butterflies usually lay their eggs on the bottom of the leaf.
A way of telling whether the caterpillar has hatched or not is by checking if their are any holes chewed through the leaf. When the caterpillars hatch they will chew their way to the top of the leaf. After the caterpillars hatch they mainly focus on eating. As already mentioned, milkweed is their main food. It is amazing to see how tiny those caterpillars start off being, and how huge they end up becoming. Once the caterpillars are ready they will weave their cocoons. The caterpillars try to attach their cocoons to a nice secure spot, but unfortunately many cocoons are knocked down before the caterpillars are able to hatch because of their fragility.
There is a really simple way of telling whether the butterfly is ready to hatch or not. When the caterpillars first weave their cocoon it is a pale green color. As the time passes it will grow darker and darker. Eventually towards the end of its' duration the cocoon will turn black. When the cocoon has turned white the butterfly could come out any time. After the butterflies hatch they have to dry out their wings. They cannot fly right away. Once they have dried their wings off the butterflies will start flying around some. Eventually the butterflies will fly off. Most of them will try finding plants with nectar for them to eat. Soon the butterflies will migrate back down south since they hatch much later in to the summer.