Monarch butterfly: Facts about the iconic migratory insects
Erin Banks Rusby
With their bright orange hues and lengthy migration, monarch butterflies (
Danaus plexippus) are one of the world's most iconic insects. But their population has steadily dropped in recent decades as they face habitat loss and other threats.
Monarch butterfly life cycle
Monarchs go through four life stages: egg, larva, pupa and adult.
They can mate several times, sometimes for 16 hours at a time, after which the female immediately starts laying eggs on milkweed plants, according to Monarch Joint Venture (MJV), a non-profit partnership of organizations that facilitate monarch conservation. Monarch eggs are about the size of a pinhead and are football shaped, with vertical ridges, said Laura Lukens, the national monitoring coordinator for. The eggs are off-white to yellow in color.