Monarch Butterfly Life Cycle

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Monarch ButterflyLife Cycle
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A monarch butterfly settles on the leaf of a
milkweed plant. She gently lays her tiny egg on
to one of its leaves. Something wonderful is
going to begin all over again
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There are four stages in
the butterflys life cycle
(Click on the pictures to find out more)
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Egg Stage

• The monarch egg is the size of a small dot and it
  sticks to the leaf. The butterfly makes it sticky
  so that wind and rain cannot make the egg come
  loose.

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Caterpillar or Larva Stage

• In a few days the egg hatches and out crawls a
  small caterpillar also called a larva. First, the
  caterpillar eats the egg shell and then it chews
  away the milkweed leaf. The plant will be its
  food.

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Chrysalis or Pupa Stage

• For two weeks the caterpillar eats and eats.
  Then, it attaches itself to the flower stem and
  drops head first. It starts to loose its skin and
  a new one appears wrapping the caterpillar all
  around. This process is called chrysalis or pupa.
  The chrysalis is like a blanket that is wrapped
  around the body growing inside.

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Butterfly Stage

• About two weeks later, the chrysalis changes
  again. It goes through a process called
  metamorphosis, which means that a caterpillar has
  turned into a butterfly. When the butterfly comes
  out of the chrysalis, it has to wait for its
  wings to dry. Later, the butterfly will fly away
  and the cycle of life begins all over again.

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1) Can you name the butterfly life cycle by
looking at the pictures? Give it a try!
2) Do you remember what is metamorphosis?
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Did you say Egg, Larva or caterpillar, chrysalis
or pupa, butterfly? Did you say that
metamorphosis is the process of a caterpillar
changing into a butterfly? If you did,
Great job!
If not,
Thats okay! Just try again!
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The following websites are great places to find
out more cool facts about the monarch butterfly.
Go ahead and expand your knowledge! http//www.k
idzone.ws/animals/monarch_butterfly.htm http//bs
i.montana.edu/web/kidsbutterfly/life-cycle http/
/www.midgefrazel.net/monarch0.html
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• The following pictures were courtesy of creative
  commons
• Flower garden by Infomatique
• Milkweed by Steven 2005
• Monarch egg by Photokai
• Monarch caterpillar by Stonebird
• Monarch cocoon by Taniwhaiti
• Monarch butterfly by Afternoon Sunlight
• Milkweed garden by Iirraa
• Information was adapted from the book Monarch
  Butterfly,
• by Gail Gibbons
• (Press the escape key
  to end this slide show)

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