The King of Butterflies Reigns!

The King reigns in Chester Springs, PA today! Monarch Butterflies in Chester Spring, PA are considered by many of us to be the most beautiful of all butterflies, or the “King of the Butterflies”, so they have been given the name “monarch”. They are fascinating creatures that are not only gorgeous to see, they also provide a very cool learning experience. Maybe that’s why butterfly gardens are such a hot topic!

Many of us knew that butterflies go through four stages of life, but did you know that this one life cycle also involves four generations in one year? The four stages of the monarch butterfly life cycle are the egg, the larvae (caterpillar), the pupa (chrysalis), and the adult butterfly. The four generations are actually four different butterflies going through these four stages during one year until it is time to start over again with stage one and generation one.

In late winter, the final generation of hibernating monarch butterflies comes out of hibernation to find a mate. They then migrate north and east in order to find a place to lay their eggs. This starts stage one and generation one of the new year for the monarch butterfly.

Soon, in March and April the eggs are laid on milkweed plants. These eggs hatch into baby caterpillars, also called the larvae. It only takes about four days for the eggs to hatch. Fattening larvae become caterpillars with a colorful pattern that is easy to identify with hues of black, orange and white. This distinctive pattern warns predators that the insects are foul tasting and poisonous. Drinking the juice of the milkweed makes their bodies poisonous to predators. The larvae stage is the only stage of the monarch butterfly that feeds on milkweed; there is something in milkweed that allows the caterpillar to grow and keep all of the vitamins needed to transform into a beautiful butterfly.

The colorful baby caterpillar doesn’t do much other than eat the milkweed in order to grow. After about two weeks, the caterpillar will be fully-grown and find a place to attach itself so that it can start the process of metamorphosis. It will attach itself to a stem or a leaf using silk, then it transforms into a chrysalis. Although, from the outside, the 10 days of the chrysalis phase seems to be a time when nothing is happening, it is really a time of rapid change. Within the chrysalis the old body parts of the caterpillar are undergoing a remarkable transformation, called metamorphosis, to become the beautiful parts that make up the butterfly that will emerge. The monarch butterfly will emerge from the pupa and fly away, feeding on flowers and just enjoying the short life it has left, which is only about two to six weeks. This first generation monarch butterfly will then die after laying eggs for generation number two.

The second generation of monarch butterflies is born in May and June, and then the third generation will be born in July and August. These monarch butterflies will go through exactly the same four stage life cycle as the first generation did; dying two to six weeks after it becomes a beautiful monarch butterfly. The caterpillars found today on a property in Chester County, PA munching on Asclepias curassavica, or Butterfly Weed, were of the third generation.

The fourth generation of monarch butterflies is a little bit different than the first three generations. The fourth generation is born in September and October and goes through exactly the same process as the first, second and third generations except for one part. The fourth generation of monarch butterflies does not die after two to six weeks. Instead, this generation of monarch butterflies migrates to warmer climates like Mexico and California and will live for six to eight months until it is time to start the whole process over again.

This reason alone is enough for us to encourage planting milkweed or butterfly weed for the butterflies, which doesn’t necessarily have to be planted in a butterfly garden. At Turpin Landscaping we carry both hardy and tropical varieties, and the tropical butterfly weed often reseeds plants for the following year. We don’t consider them to be a nuisance weed because they are so beautiful, provide an important food source for the monarchs, and are easily removed or transplanted if they appear in an undesirable location.

For many years we have used the Asclepias curassavica varieties as marginal aquatic plants, in container gardens and bedding plants because they are very adaptable and the blossoms attract hummingbirds, dragonflies and of course, butterflies! This is not native to our area but the monarchs do use it for a host plant and the larvae love it! When it’s time for the pods to explode with seeds, some gardeners choose to remove some of the pods to avoid a messy appearance. If you are lucky enough to have Monarch Butterflies engaging in their life cycle in your garden, try to be patient for a little while longer in the season until the butterflies head south for the winter.

So we have learned that only the larvae of the monarch actually eat the butterfly weed or milkweed, and that the plants are hosts for eggs, but many people do not know exactly how the adult monarch butterfly food is consumed. Well, a small little pipe, like a straw, which is coiled under its head most of the time, is what an adult monarch butterfly uses to suck up all of the nectar from plants. The straw is called a ‘proboscis’. This is the reason that all monarch butterflies generally stick to an all-liquid diet; it is very hard to suck up any solids with a straw like that for your mouth.

If you happen to find a monarch butterfly and are looking for a monarch butterfly food source, you should turn toward the liquids. Monarch butterflies are known for their completely liquid diets, whether they are sampling nectar from all sorts of different flowers, or they are using their long ‘straw’ to drink up water out of shallow ponds, monarch butterflies are usually always looking for things that are liquid to eat. Another great reason for a water feature!!!