Waiting for the Monarchs

Sherry Whalen, in northwest Kasson, is showing the neighbor’s day care children the life cycle of the monarch butterfly, that she has in various stages in the containers. She has released almost 30 monarchs so far this summer. When she finds an egg on a milkweed plant, she puts the leaf with the egg in a container jar, or the birds may likely eat the larva before they will hatch. The monarch butterfly life cycle from egg to adult is usually completed in about 30, days depending on the temperature. Monarchs usually lay a single egg on a plant, most often on the bottom of a leaf near the top of the plant. The life cycle has four stages: egg, larva (caterpillar), pupa (chrysalis), and adult. After emerging from its chrysalis, the monarch needs to dry its wings for at least three hours before it can fly away from predators. It pumps fluid into its wings to expand them and flaps them to help dry. After the fluid hardens, they will be full-sized and ready to fly. Males have two black spots on the top surface of their hind wings.