Monarch butterfly

• Status: Safe
• From southern Canada to the Amazon River, throughout the Americas

Numbers

Weight

0,02 ozfrom 0.01 to 0.03 oz

Length

1,8 infrom 1.6 to 2 in (body length)

Lifespan

6 monthsup to 6 months for the migratory generation

Wingspan

4 infrom 3 to 4 in; Wikidata reports 3.5 in

Record flight

1312 miin 46 days, an exceptional case documented in a single individual

Wintering altitude

10000 ftMexican valley where over 14 million butterflies gather in four acres

Ten fun facts

1. 01

   the name Monarch butterfly honors William III of England, as its orange wings match the coat of arms of the Prince of Orange.

2. 02

   in 2009 several Monarch butterflies were raised on the International Space Station and successfully emerged from their chrysalises.

3. 03

   in a Mexican valley, over 14 million Monarch butterflies spend the winter packed into less than four acres of space.

4. 04

   the Monarch butterfly was the first butterfly to have its genome fully sequenced, featuring 273 million base pairs and 16,866 genes.

5. 05

   the genome of the North American Monarch butterfly contains genes from bracoviruses, which normally live inside certain parasitic wasps.

6. 06

   fewer than ten percent of eggs and caterpillars reach adulthood, because predators, parasites, and bad weather take a massive toll.

7. 07

   in warm summer weather, growing from an egg to an adult butterfly takes twenty-five days, but cool spring can take seven weeks.

8. 08

   the caterpillar has black, yellow, and white stripes, creating another clear warning signal to any predators thinking of eating it.

9. 09

   since the nineteenth century, the Monarch butterfly has spread to Australia, New Zealand, and Indonesia, far from its native Americas.

10. 10

    the South American Monarch butterfly Danaus erippus separated from its North American relative about two million years ago at the Pliocene end.

The quiz answers

The first one is the question printed in your book: here is the answer. The other four are extra.

Try it yourself

Data from Wikidata (Q212398) and Wikipedia (Monarch butterfly).