Although Monarchs start out as an egg, they grow into the familiar black, yellow and white caterpillar we all know. As the larva feed on various milkweeds throughout the United States, they go through stages known as instars. This allows them to grow a new skin to accomodate their growing body. Here two large caterpillars fight over a blossom on the plant we know as butterfly weed.
The catepillar spins a pad of silk and hangs in the shape of a "j" when it has completed its final instar stage and is ready to form a chrysalis.
A miraculous change takes place with the larva in a very short period of
time. A bright yellow-green covering begins to appear at the head of
the larva. It begins to shake and spin on its silken pad. Soon a shiny
green chrysalis with gold colored dots replaces the familiar striped
caterpillar.
The monarch chrysalis is a thing of beauty in itself. The transformation from caterpillar to adult butterfly takes anywhere from five to fifteen days depending on time of year and weather conditions.
The adult emerges as a dripping wrinkled and folded mass. It climbs to a higher perch and "hangs itself to dry" and pump the fluids stored in the abdomen to its wings.
It takes several hours for the adult butterfly to fully dry its wings.
The monarch is then ready to fly away to begin feeding and find a mate.
Fifth grade students at Vera Kilpatrick Elementary School in Texarkana, Arkansas have participated in Journey North and Monarch Watch the past two years. Journey North tracks the monarchs as they migrate to their wintering grounds in Mexico in the fall and on their return to North America and Canada in the spring. Monarch Watch tags and records the location where the butterflies were caught, their sex, and whether they were feeding or resting and enters all the data into a database. If a tagged monarch is found it is mailed back to the University of Kansas at Lawrence. Students learn a lot about reading maps, using math skills, and habitat protection from taking part in these programs.
Check out the following links for more information about monarch butterflies.
Journey North
Monarch Watch
Monarch Tagging At Kilpatrick Elementary
Check out this web site for a look at our outdoor classroom.
Kilpatrick's Outdoor Classroom
Go To Butterflies Of Southwest Arkansas