Metamorphosis: Caterpillar to Monarch

Metamorphosis: From Caterpillar to Monarch Butterfly : 

Metamorphosis: From Caterpillar to Monarch Butterfly By: Matthew Martens

Monarch Watch/4-H Project : 

Monarch Watch/4-H Project Participated in a project to raise Monarch Butterflies through the Dana College Biology Department and the Washington County 4-H extension office. Project was to raise Monarch Butterflies from caterpillars, tag the butterflies, and then release them into the wild. Monarch Watch is an organization that uses tagged butterflies to track migration patterns in order to learn more about these insects.

Supplies : 

Participants of the Monarch Watch project were provided with catching nets, butterfly rearing instructions, a butterfly cage, a paintbrush for moving the chrysalises, paper clips for hanging the chrysalises, butterfly tags, and a plastic cup containing 3 Monarch caterpillars and a small amount of Milkweed. Participants were required to find Milkweed to feed the caterpillars, as this is the only food that they will eat. Supplies

Life Cycle : 

Step 1: Egg Step 2: Caterpillar (larva) Step 3: Chrysalis Step 4: Emergence Step 5: Adult Butterfly Life Cycle

Step 1: Egg : 

Step 1: Egg A female Monarch Butterfly generally lays a single egg on the bottom of a leaf that is near the top of a plant. Female Monarch Butterflies lay an average of 100-300 eggs in their lifetime. Eggs are usually ovular in shape and have a hard outer covering with ridges on it. Eggs hatch about 4 days after they are laid.

Step 2: Caterpillar (Larva) : 

Monarch Butterflies do all of their growing in this stage. After eating their eggshells at birth, caterpillars begin to eat the Milkweed plant that they are laid on. Caterpillars eat constantly. Caterpillars go through five growth stages, or instars, during which they shed and eat their skin and get significantly larger. Monarch Butterfly caterpillars will only eat Milkweed plant leaves. Step 2: Caterpillar (Larva)

Step3: Chrysalis : 

Step3: Chrysalis Once the caterpillar is large enough, it will attach itself to the bottom of a leaf, branch, or similar object by making a sticky silk pad and attaching itself to it. The caterpillar then goes into “J” position before its skin splits open and the pupa wriggles out. The pupa is soft when it first comes out, but this hardens into a normal chrysalis after a few hours, changing shape as it does so. The caterpillar will remain a chrysalis for about 12 days.

Step 4: Emergence : 

Step 4: Emergence It takes a caterpillar about 31 days to get to this stage. The chrysalis will darken over a period of days before becoming transparent. The adult butterfly breaks out of the chrysalis quickly and emerges with wet wings.

Step 5: Adult Butterfly : 

Step 5: Adult Butterfly After the butterfly’s wings are dry, it flies off to find food and a mate. Adult Monarch Butterflies live for up to nine months. Monarch Butterflies that emerge in the late summer have to travel to their winter habitat in Mexico before returning to lay eggs in the United States. Monarch Butterflies eat nectar from flowers to obtain food and water (nectar is 20% sugar), using taste receptors in their feet to find it. Their coloring warns animals that they have a bad taste, though they are not necessarily toxic.

Conclusion : 

Conclusion The Monarch Watch tagging program was designed with several goals in mind: To track the migration patterns of Monarch Butterflies. Study the causes of population variances in Monarch Butterflies. To educate the public and policy makers on the Monarch Butterfly. To determine ways to increase the breeding and migratory populations, which are increasingly lower than they have been in the past.

Bibliography : 

Bibliography Pictures and videos by Matthew Martens unless otherwise stated. "Monarch Life Cycle." Monarch Watch . Monarch Watch. 20 Jul 2009 <http://www.monarchwatch.org/biology/cycle1. htm>. "Monarch Butterflies and Pictures." Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia. CD-ROM.1st ed.Microsoft Corporation,2004. CD-ROM Wilson, H.D.. "Common Milkweed and Pictures." Study of Northern Virginian Ecology. Island Creek Elementary School. 20 Jul 2009 <http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology.htm>.

Thank You for Listening! : 

Thank You for Listening!