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Butterfly (Monarch)

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Danaus plexippus
Butterfly (Monarch)

Range

They are found in southern Canada and south throughout the U.S. to Central and South America. They are also found in Australia and Hawaii.

Habitat

They live in open, weedy places like fields and marshes.

Body Traits

They have orange wings with black veins and white spots along the edges. Their caterpillar is black, yellow, and white striped. Their wingspan is up to 5" wide.

Habits

They are poisonous to birds because of their milkweed diet. They are the only butterfly that migrates yearly, flying thousands of miles south into central Mexico.

Diet

The caterpillars eat milkweed and the adults eat milkweed flower nectar.

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Reproduction

Females lay a single egg on a milkweed leaf. When it hatches, the caterpillars eat the milkweed.

Butterfly (Monarch)

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Suborder: Macrolepidoptera
Family: Danaidae
Genus: Danaus
Species: D. plexippus

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