Monarch Butterfly Research Paper

The monarch butterfly, as known as Danaus plexippus, is often called the milkweed butterfly because its larvae eat the milkweed plant. They are also sometimes called "royalty butterflies" because their family name comes from the daughter of Danaus, ruler of Argos. There are many other interesting facts about this butterfly including its anatomy and life cycle, where the butterfly lies on the food chain, the migration from Canada to Mexico, why the butterfly is being threatened, and lastly, what is being done to help the butterfly.

     The monarch butterfly, as known as Danaus plexippus, is often called the milkweed butterfly because its larvae eat the milkweed plant. They are also sometimes called "royalty butterflies" because their family name comes from the daughter of Danaus, ruler of Argos. There are many other interesting facts about this butterfly including its anatomy and life cycle, where the butterfly lies on the food chain, the migration from Canada to Mexico, why the butterfly is being threatened, and lastly, what is being done to help the butterfly.

The Monarch Butterfly’s life cycle has four stages, it begins with the egg, the caterpillar, the pupa, and then it emerges into an Adult butterfly.The female adult monarch butterfly mates with a male butterfly, and later lays its eggs specifically on a milkweed plant. After the eggs hatch, they turn into larva. The larva then spins a silky mat which turns into a chrysalis. Finally, the larva merges into an adult monarch butterfly.

Introduction: My kindergarten learners are very diverse. It is comprised of twenty-one 5 and 6 year old students. There are 11 boys and 10 girls. In my class, there are children with ADHD, severe learning disabilities, multiple ESL learners, Cerebral Palsy, Severe Behavior, and other assortment of needs.

There four stages in the life cycle of a butterfly. The stages are , egg , larva , pupa , and adult. The entire process is called complete metamorphosis and is one of two ways insects develop from an egg to an adult ( University of Minnesota https://monarchlab.org/biology-and-research/biology-and-natural-history/breeding-life-cycle/life-cycle/).

I enjoyed my many years of participation in the Monarch Larvae Monitoring Project. Milkweed is the larvae's host plant. Unfortunately common milkweed (asclepias syriaca) has not done well

The monarch butterfly travels long distances to get to their nesting grounds. The monarch’s migration takes a total of 3000 miles. Their nesting grounds is located in the Sierra

Monarch butterflies depend solely on the milkweed plant to survive. Milkweed, however, has been disappearing like crazy due especially to increased use of the weed killer Roundup over the past ten to twenty years. That, combined with more general trends of habitat loss, various effects of climate change, and challenges like the drought in California, has spelled out around a ninety percent population decline for monarchs in the past twenty years. Scientists currently estimate a global population of around 33 million monarch butterflies, down from over one billion in the past.

Species info: Monarch Butterflies are the most commonly known butterfly in the world. It is easily recognized by its black and orange wings. The colors warn predators about the raw and terrible taste they have. (www.defenders.org/monarch-butterfly/basic-facts.)

The eastern flutters of monarch butterflies are thought to be in danger, thanks to natural disasters in Mexico and there not being enough milkweed in their summer nesting grounds(National Geographic). Global warming and loss of habitat also effect the migratory patterns and the rainfall(National Wildlife Federation).  “In 1996, the Mexican government created the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve to protect monarch’s wintering habitat(US Fish and Wildlife

There are three types of bees in a hive; namely, the queen, worker bees and drones. There is only one queen per hive and her role is to produce more bees (4). This is done by mating with the male bees. After mating, the queen can lay up to 2,000 eggs per day (4). Drones are male bees and their role is to mate with the queen. Drones spend a considerable amount of time inside the hive; in addition, during early winter

10: The life cycle of the organism: The life cycle of the Kamehameha butterfly is the females lay their eggs on the mamaki leaves. After it becomes a caterpillar it feeds on the mamaki leaves before pupating and transforming into a butterfly.

Based on the decline of the Karner blue across its historic range, it was listed as endangered in 1992. Since listing, two populations have been extirpated and are being reintroduced to Concord, New Hampshire, and West Gary, Indiana. A third population is being reintroduced to Ohio. The threat of the Karner blue butterfly extinction exists primarily from the loss of critical habitat caused by landscape fragmentation, natural succession and concomitant suppression of the natural disturbance regime (Smallidge 1996; Clough 1992).

The monarch butterfly annual migration is a visually spectacular feat, in terms of the number of butterflies flying to their overwintering sites and as well as the masses that congregates at the overwintering sites in Mexico. The idea that monarch butterflies exhibited migratory behavior was once controversial, it was not until Fred Urquhart and his colleagues pioneered a tagging work with the eastern North American population for decades that revealed the long distance of the monarch migration. The tagging efforts that began in 1937 lead to the discovery of their overwintering sites in Mexico in 1975. With its long distance traveled and the nature of the predictable and the repetitive nature of its annual migration. The

The health of the earth degrades with the destructive activity of human beings. A recent study by a group of scientists looked at twenty four different services that the earth’s ecosystems provide for humans, ecosystem services, and found that fifteen of them are in need of desperate help (Gazette 31 March 2005). These services are vital to the survival of both human and nonhuman life and include filtering water and providing nutrient rich soils and ocean waters. Many of the members of these various ecosystems are also decreasing in numbers. In a British survey of bird populations found that in the 200 birds of Britain tracked there was about a 54% population decrease between the 1968-1971 tacking period and the 1988-1991 tacking period. In two other surveys of 254 native plant species from the same area there was a decrease of about 28% during the past 40 years. Humans are pushing the sixth mass extinction (Gazette March 19, 2004).