Butterfly

Monarch Butterfly Life Cycle The butterfly life cycle is a wonder of nature. It begins as a tiny egg on a milkweed plant also known as a butterfly plant), changes to a larval butterfly caterpillar, and then magically undergoes a metamorphosis change into a vibrant colored butterfly. The mating season begins in late winter and early spring as the weather warms and the Monarchs are ending their winter migration to southern areas. Females search out milkweed plants growing along their route north, and deposit up to one hundred eggs on the butterfly plant leaves. Live Butterfly Pavilion Over 200 Amazon customers wrote "5 Star Excellent" reviews of this inexpensive learning kit! Watch how real live caterpillars change from chrysalis to butterflies. "This kit provided my children with a wonderful, exciting learning experience that they will never forget!" The monark eggs soon hatch to tiny butterfly caterpillars that molt their skin 5 times while growing and eating ...

Monarch Butterfly Migration Monarch Butterflies are most well known for their winter migration from northern areas to the milder temperatures of the south. Over two hundred species of the butterfly and moth family (Lepidoptera) often make long travels, but they are usually in search of food, not a yearly recurring migratory round trip like the Monarch migration. The Incredible Journey of the Butterflies is a highly rated one hour PBS nature DVD documentary showing incredible filming of the Monarch Butterfly annual migration. On one route from the northeast United States to overwinter in the mountains of Mexico, the Monark Butterfly travels well over two thousand miles. This incredible feat is performed by those who have never made the trip before. Four generations have lived and died since last year’s expedition. Observers in Australia and Costa Rica have documented the same uncanny behavior. How can this be possible……………? Researchers remain perplexed about how a Monarch Butterfly...

Monarch Butterfly Predators Millions of Monarch Butterflies become food for various predators every year. Besides their life cycle being very short, especially in the warmer months, their fragile wings are very susceptible to water. Even a few drops of the morning dew can be hazardous, and in colder weather wing icing (like aircraft) can be disastrous! There are a multitude of little predators that eat the Monarch eggs and larvae such as ants, mites, spiders, and wasps. The adult monarchs are especially vulnerable to being eaten by predators while at the winter migratory sites where their population density is incredibly large, and the over-wintering time cooler weather causes them to be in a semi-dormant state making them easy to catch prey. Often their roosting trees are smothered with thousands of Monarchs. The food source for the monarch larvae caterpillars is the milkweed plant. The plant contains toxic chemicals which the young monarch is immune to, and the residue of these t...

Monarch Butterfly Winter Changes In colder winter areas Monarch Butterflies become sluggish, and they do not reproduce. Because they are cold blooded, when the air temperatures become cooler difficult butterfly habitat challenges are presented. The butterfly stores fat in its stomach for the winter period of lessened activity. Although Monarch butterflies are very susceptible to damage during freezing temperatures, if their delicate wings remain dry they can withstand brief freezing periods. While residing at their winter migratory locations they tend to cluster together roosting in trees, but during the summer season they spread out over very large areas. When the Monarchs begin to sense a drop in temperatures they begin their long journey south for the winter. The Rocky Mountains seem to be the dividing line separating their final destinations. The population residing east of these mountains migrates to portions of Florida, the coastal areas of Texas, and mostly to Mexico. C...

Monarch Butterfly Endangered The Monarch Butterfly population , as well as numerous other animal species, is suffering the effects of man-made events as well as the consequences of the “global warming” phenomenon. Scientists assert that the global climate change may cause the Monarch’s over-wintering sites in Mexico to become wetter, and the spring and summer breeding areas of the United States west coast and mid-western agricultural belt to become warmer. As temperatures become too warm for this species, their summer migrations may take them even further northward. Will the Monarch Butterflies migrate a further distance south to the current locations? Since researchers started keeping records in the early 1900’s the winter sites have not changed. Might temperature increases cause changes in their migratory patterns? The Monarch’s winter home in the mountains of central Mexico is greatly threatened today by tremendous logging operations of the Fir tree forests. This deforestation an...

Celtic tattoos and body art (as well as other tribal tattoos) have been very popular for the past decade or so. Celtic butterfly tattoos are quite popular nowadays. Butterflies have a similar symbolic meaning in many cultures. The butterfly is a symbol for rebirth and transformation. Just like a beautiful butterfly comes out of his cocoon, the person who wears a butterfly tattoo has gone through some difficult times and is ready to face the world again. In some cultures the butterfly is the personification of someone's soul. The Celtic butterfly tattoo is often quite small and feminine looking, making it appropriate for the ankle or shoulder. The butterfly is also often seen as a lower back tattoo, adorned with Celtic swirls. Lower back tattoos can be sexy and stylish when done right, particularly for girls and women. In the late 1990s however, lower back tattoos have been getting so extremely popular amongst cute girly girls that they got a bad name (the tattoos). Nearly 25% of th...