Stepped out of the studio this morning and I had a new arrival, a monarch butterfly. A few facts about my new studio mate. did you know that the monarch butterflies that live in North America migrate? They are the only insect to migrate up to 2,500 miles to get out of the cold weather and hibernate. But not all monarch butterflies migrate; only the fourth generation of monarchs can migrate each year because the first three generations die after about six weeks from escaping their cocoons. They go through four generations each year. The first three generations hatch from their cocoon state and live for up to six weeks, but the fourth generation continues to migrate to a warmer climate, hibernate, and then start a new first generation in the spring time.
Female monarchs have several hundred eggs to lay during their short life in the spring time. Monarch butterfly larvae eat milkweed and they need them to live. Milkweed plants are been cleared for roadway and development and the monarch population is decreasing because of this.
All right boys and girls that our nature lesson for the day - now get back to work!
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