Monarch Butterfly Beauty
by Lisa Wooten
Title
Monarch Butterfly Beauty
Artist
Lisa Wooten
Medium
Photograph - Photograph
Description
Featured: Images That Excite You 10/7/2015
The monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) is a milkweed butterfly (subfamily Danainae) in the family Nymphalidae. It may be the most familiar North American butterfly, and is considered an iconic pollinator species.[3] Its wings feature an easily recognizable black, orange, and white pattern, with a wingspan of 8.9�10.2 cm (3��4 in)[4] The viceroy butterfly is similar in color and pattern, but is markedly smaller and has an extra black stripe across each hind wing.
The eastern North American monarch population is notable for its annual southward late-summer/autumn migration from the United States and southern Canada to Mexico. During the fall migration, monarchs cover thousands of miles, with a corresponding multi-generational return north. The western North American population of monarchs west of the Rocky Mountains often migrates to sites in California but has been found in overwintering Mexican sites as well.[5][6] Monarchs were transported to the International Space Station and were bred there. Commonly and easily mistaken for the similar viceroy butterfly, the monarch�s wingspan ranges from 8.9 to 10.2 centimetres (3.5�4.0 in).[4] The upper side of the wings is tawny-orange, the veins and margins are black, and in the margins are two series of small white spots. Monarch forewings also have a few orange spots near their tips. Wing undersides are similar, but the tips of forewings and hindwings are yellow-brown instead of tawny-orange and the white spots are larger.[8] The shape and color of the wings change at the beginning of the migration and appear redder and more elongated than later migrants.[9] Wings size and shape differ between migratory and non-migratory monarchs. Monarchs from eastern North America have larger and more angular forewings than those in the western population.[7]
Monarch flight has been described as "slow and sailing".[10] However, startled monarchs often fly quickly.
Adults exhibit sexual dimorphism. A male has a black patch or spot of androconial scales on each hindwing (in some butterflies, these patches disperse pheromones, but are not known to do so in monarchs), and the black veins on his wings are lighter and narrower than those of females.[11] Males are also slightly larger than females.[7][8] One variation, the "white monarch"; observed in Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, and the United States; is called nivosus by lepidopterists. It is grayish-white in all areas of its wings that are normally orange and is only about 1% or less of all monarchs, but populations as high as 10% exist on Oahu in Hawaii.[12]
Like all insects, the monarch has six legs, but uses its middle legs and hindlegs as it carries its two forelegs against its body. Wikipedia
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September 12th, 2015
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