Ecology of Danaus plexippus

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Ecology of Danaus plexippus
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• Everything that is currently known about the
  natural history of the monarch butterfly has been
  discovered through observation, recording data,
  experimentation, analysis
• In other words, through science!

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Monarch life cycle

• Egg is laid on the underside of a plant,
  typically a milkweed plant.

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Monarch life cycle

• A caterpillar hatches out of the egg this is
  the larva stage or young stage.
• During this stage a monarch caterpillar will eat
  continuously

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increases in size 2000 times!
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Monarch life cycle

• As soon as the caterpillar has reached full size
  it will form a pupa, which for this butterfly is
  called a chrysalis (when the skin forms the pupa
  case, a cocoon is when some other material makes
  the case!)

The caterpillar is shedding its skin!
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The chrysalis

• Intelligently designed or the result of evolution?

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Monarch life cycle

• After about 2 weeks the adult butterfly emerges
• When animals change forms from youth to adult its
  called metamorphosis

This process only takes a few minutes.
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Monarch lifespan

• It takes about a month for the adult to develop
  (from egg to pupa to adult).
• life span of the adult varies, depending on the
  season in which it emerged from the pupa and
  whether or not it belongs to a migratory group of
  Monarchs.
• ????

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Monarch lifespan

• Early summer 2 to 5 weeks
• Early fall (non-reproductive monarchs) 8-9 months

Notice the flower species
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Monarch migration

• To take advantage of seasonal blooming flowers
• Ohio born monarchs might travel over 2,000 miles!

Final destination Mountains of Central Mexico
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Danaus plexippus migration

• One generation flies south and overwinters in
  trees in the mountains.
• They literally huddle together on the branches to
  survive the cold.

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Monarch migration

• In the spring the butterflies will mate and lay
  eggs (then die) they do not return to Ohio
• The eggs hatch, eat, pupate, fly north,
  reproduce, and die
• It takes 4 to 5 generations until Monarchs reach
  Ohio in late summer.

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Monarch Migration

• So, one down and 4 back next year we might see
  our classroom butterflies great, great,
  grandchildren!
• How do they know where to go?

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Monarchs

• These types of questions make people become
  biologists.

From Ohio started research as a freshman and
wrote up findings in her freshman year at OSU.
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Why tag?
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Why tag?

• To use the number tags and number recaptured to
  calculate population size.
• (Lincoln-Peterson or mark-recapture method)
• To determine migration routes
• To determine territories of butterflies.

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Who cares?

• I mean it, who cares?
• Biologists? Lepidopterists?, Enthusiasts?,
  Americans?, Mexicans?, you?

Paplotl
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• Monarchs in trouble?
• http//video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/a
  nimals/bugs-animals/butterflies-moths/butterfly_mo
  narch.html

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Danaus plexippus

• And there are over 5 million other species on
  this planet think of the studies just waiting to
  be done!
• I hope you enjoy biology this year.