From ova to caterpillar
 |
The Monarch's cycle from egg to adult butterfly is approximately 30 days. Each Monarch female lays as many as 900 eggs! Eggs are laid singly and are the size of a pinhead (1.2 mm). They are always laid on Asclepias plants, milkweed, which is the host plant for the Monarch. |
|
|
|
Milkweed is the only plant the caterpillars will eat once they have hatched. |
| The tiny larvae (caterpillars) emerge from the eggshell about three to four days after the egg is laid. |
 |
|
|
They begin eating immediately and their first meal is often their egg casing. |
 |
|
|
Then the caterpillars begin to eat the milkweed, and this diet gives them a slightly greenish tint, which is a protective camouflage for the tiny creatures. |
 |
| Trivia: the word "larva" comes from Latin and means "a mask" - Linnaeus (father of classification) considered the real insect to be laying underneath the larval mask. "Caterpillar" is derived from the French "Chatelpillar" which means "a hairy or downy cat who pillages!" |
 |
Predators leave Monarch caterpillars and butterflies alone because of the toxins ingested by the caterpillars that come from the milkweed. This selective diet is their best protection from predators. The Monarch butterfly's bright orange colors as well as the caterpillar's colorful stripes give the message "Don't eat me! I'm poisonous!" to would-be predators such as birds and lizards. |
|
|
|
