Zusammenfassung der Ressource
life cycle of
the butterfly
- A monarch begins her life as an egg stuck
underneath a milkweed leaf. The worm (a
larva) grows inside the egg. When ready, the
larva chews a hole in the outside of its egg,
and crawls through the hollow until he can
enter the world of outside. After a few
minutes, the larva eats for the first time the
remains of her egg. Female monarchs leave
between one and three eggs on the
underside of milkweed leaves. This process
is repeated until the female has left
hundreds of eggs. |
- After eating its egg, the larva begins to eat
milkweed leaves. Asclepia is the only plant that
a monarch larva can eat. The larva eats and
grows, grows and eats. She grows up so much
that it can't fit on your old skin, almost when
like you grow so much that you do not fit in
your old clothes. In order to grow so much, the
larva has to shed its skin. Old skin it breaks
open, exposing the new skin under it. The larva
crawls on the old skin, which is already too
small. After breaking free, the larva usually eat
their old skin before eating more milkweed
leaves.
- After shedding their skins, monarch larvae
continue to grow, and they have to shed
four more times. The last time they
move is very different than the others.
The larva crawls from its milkweed, and
looks for a suitable place. Some larvae
travel more than others. When the larva
has found the appropriate place, it begins
to weave a silk mesh with a "button" in
the center. Once finished, the larva grabs
the silk with its legs, and hangs upside
down. The front of your body is curved
into a "J" shape.
- When it has formed its "J", the larva molts
for the last time. The skin is parted on the
back of its head, and the larva crawls while
hanging upside down, to shed its old skin.
The last molt is the most difficult, because
the larva has to leave its old skin and still
hang on its "button". Once the larva
incorporates a hook that penetrates the
"button" on the rear side of the larva, it can
remove the remaining skin.
- When the remaining skin falls off, the
larva pupates. It has no eyes, no
antennae. He has no legs, and he
cannot move. All the major changes in
body shape, size, and arrangement
take place when it is a pupa. In
monarchs, this stage can last as long
as a week. Upon completion, an adult
butterfly emerges from the chrysalis.
- An emerging butterfly waits two to three
hours before it can fly. New wings are small
and wrinkled, so it pumps liquid through its
wing veins to make them bigger. Afterward,
the monarch has to wait until a little air can
replace some of the liquid. Up to this point,
the monarch cannot fly, and her wings are
very easily damaged. After the wings have
hardened, the butterfly flies until it finds its
first meal. From this point on, the monarch
takes all of her food. The butterfly will visit
various types of flowers to find its food in
the form of nectar.