Monarch Butterflies

Monarch butterflies are one of the most recognized insects in North America. They have beautiful orange and black wings. Monarchs are famous for migrating thousands of miles each year. They travel from Canada and the United States to Mexico for the winter.

The Great Migration

Every fall, millions of monarch butterflies fly south to central Mexico. They travel up to 3,000 miles to reach their winter home. Monarchs that make the journey have never been there before. Scientists believe they use the sun and Earth's magnetic field to navigate.

Life Cycle

Monarchs go through four stages: egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, and butterfly. Caterpillars eat only milkweed plants. The milkweed makes them taste bad to predators. An adult monarch butterfly lives for about two to six weeks, except for the migrating generation which lives up to eight months.

Fun Facts

• Monarch butterflies can fly up to 3,000 miles during migration.
• Monarchs taste bad to birds because of the milkweed they ate as caterpillars.
• A single tree in Mexico can be covered with thousands of resting monarchs.

Did You Know?

It takes four generations of monarchs to complete the full round trip migration! Only the last generation of the year makes the long flight south to Mexico.