Monarch Butterfly Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Monarch Butterfly - Research Paper ExampleButterflies and moths belong to the regulate, Lepidoptera (Capinera, 628). The special characteristics of this order are the presence of a complete, holometabolous life cycle, with separate egg, larva, pupa, and adult stages (Capinera, 631). And this is why butterflies are classify under this order. A Monarch butterfly has also a similar wing span which comes to 3.5 to 4 inches (Garber, 76). Another common feature of the members of Lepidoptera order is that all of them have four wings and also scales applications programme at leats some frame parts (Capinera, 631). In Monarch butterflies, the scales are seen as a billet near the central veins of the back(prenominal)wings (Capinera, 631). There are two subspecies in Monarch butterfly (Oberhauser and Solensky, 1). The species, genus Danaus plexippus plexippus, is found in Southern Canada, the USA, Mexico, most Caribbean Islands, Central America and northern South America (Oberhauser and So lensky, 1). The entropy subspecies, Danaus plexippus erippus is seen in Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Eastern Brazil (Oberhauser and Solensky, 1). Monarch butterflies are cold-blooded insects (Learner.org). So they are prosperous in cool climates as in such an atmosphere, they do not need to spend more than energy (Learner.org). It can be seen that the body of the caterpillar will be covered with nine browned rings aside from black head and it features three pairs of true legs with claws attached and five pairs of prolegs that extend backward (Monarch-Butterfly.com). To differentiate a female crowned head butterfly from a male, one has to look for a unprejudiced identification mark -the male monarchs have a black spot on each of the hind wings over a vein. The female monarch butterfly does not have this spot (Monarch-Butterfly.com). In one year, four generations of monarch butterflies complete their life cycle (Monarch-Butterfly.com). The life cycle of a monarch butterfly on the other hand includes four stages, namely, the egg, the larvae, the pupa and the butterfly (Monarch-Butterfly.com). The annual life cycle of this empurpled insect can be considered to begin in the months of February and March when they mate (Monarch-Butterfly.com). After mating, the butterflies migrate to the Yankee and Eastern parts of North America and lay their eggs there in the months of March and April (Monarch-Butterfly.com). It is on the milkweed plant that the Monarch butterflies lay their white eggs (Monarch-Butterfly.com). The eggs will be seen on the undersides of milkweed leaves, usually near the top of the plant. Each female butterfly lay several cytosine eggs and the eggs hatch in four days (Monarch-Butterfly.com). There are many spineless predators that feed on Monarch eggs and larvae like, red velvet spider mite (Oberhauser and Solensky, 6). The caterpillar is herbivore and feeds completely on milkweed leaves for two weeks and then att ach to a small stem or a leaf of the plant and starts metamorphosing into the pupa stage (Monarch-Butterfly.com). Because of the insistence of the caterpillars on eating only the milkweeds, Monarch butterflies gained another name, the milkweed butterfly (Monarch-Butterfly.com). The caterpillars are only about 0.1 inches long weighing 0.55 grams (Monarch-Butterfly.com). Caterpillars have alternating bands of yellow, white, and black, on their body with a black stripe between pairs of