Milkweed & Monarchs

Several times over the past few years a note would come home from school asking for any Monarch caterpillars for a school project. I would spend time searching for stands of Milkweed with little luck. This year I left a small stand of Milkweed plants growing in our weed choked garden and "Shazam", A Monarch Caterpillar.

Milkweed is the only plant the caterpillar of the Monarch Butterfly will eat. Milkweed is a toxic plant for many creatures including goats, but the Monarch Butterfly uses those toxins to its advantage. Most Monarch Butterflies are toxic and animals that prey on them know it, or soon learn the hard way.

The Monarch has a very unique and amazing life span. Depending on what generation, a Monarch may live 6-8 weeks, or 5-6 months. It is the 4th generation of Monarchs that migrate the 1000-3000 miles to Mexico where it hibernates until Feb/March. The Monarchs that hibernate in Mexico do not make the journey back. You could say they had a one way ticket.

This is how I understand the Monarch Migration and life cycle.

After the Monarch comes out of hibernation in Mexico, they find a mate and head north. They soon mate and deposit the eggs for generation 1, and soon after they die off.

Generation 1 monarchs are the offspring of the Monarchs who overwintered in Mexico. They will continue the migration north and only live 6-8 weeks.

Generation 2 are the offspring of generation 1. They continue the journey north and lay the eggs for generation 3 along the way and then die off.

Generation 3 starts to reach the northern reaches of their territory, and like generation 1 and 2, they live 6-8 weeks and die. The 6-8 weeks includes the Egg, Caterpillar, Cocoon, and finally the Butterfly.

Generation 4 starts life in Sept/Oct, and it is this generation that will fly the entire migration route south for the winter, and hibernate in the same trees as earlier generations. Generation 4 live a long 5-6 months instead of the 6-8 weeks like the previous 3 generations.

I think I will try to maintain a patch of Milkweed for this phenomenon called, The Monarch Butterfly.