Monarch Butterflies

Photos by Stan Tekiela

by Stan Tekiela
© NatureSmart

September 26, 2016

There are so many amazing and marvelous aspects in nature. Take the Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus) for example, this may be the most familiar and recognized butterfly in North America yet I am not sure it's understood just how special or amazing this winged creature really is. It's a good example of a species that is right under our noses but we don't seem to appreciate it.

Unfortunately, due to unprecedented drop in population over the past 10 years, it is now being considered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as a candidate for the endangered species list. 

Recently I have been photographing all of the life stages of the Monarch Butterfly in my studio, and I must tell you that I am so impressed with this tiny creature. Even after 30 years of studying wildlife and traveling to the far corners of the world to study and photograph amazing creatures, I am totally amazed by the tiny Monarch Butterfly right in front of me.

Let's start with the egg. After mating a female can lay anywhere from 300 to 1,300 eggs. Each egg is about 1/1000 the mass of the female, which means she will lay equal to her own body mass in eggs in just a couple days time. Each egg is laid on the underside of a milkweed plant, which is the preferred food plant for the developing caterpillar. It takes only 3-8 days to hatch and a tiny caterpillar crawls out.

The caterpillar, also called a larvae, goes through five growth stages, each time molting to become larger. Each stage is called an instar. At each of the five stages there are slight visible changes. I had a chance to collect all five stages together at one time and take a picture showing each unique caterpillar life stage and the egg.  

What comes next is hard to believe. I have seen it many times and I am still owe-struck each time I witness it. When full size, the caterpillar finds a suitable place to change from a caterpillar into a pupa. The caterpillar will spin a silken pad on a horizontal substrate. It then hangs from the pad by a pair of strong hind legs. The  body of the caterpillar hangs down in a J shape. This is where the magic happens. Inside the caterpillars body, all of the cells transform. The back of the hanging caterpillar splits open and it sheds its caterpillar skin leaving behind a green exoskeleton called a chrysalis, containing all of the transforming cells that soon will make a completely new animal inside. The adult butterfly.

While photographing this stage, one of the caterpillars did exactly this and I was able to capture the entire process with my camera. Taking just a couple minutes my mouth hung open as the wriggling caterpillar slipped out of its skin and left behind the green chrysalis. This is the very moment that is so amazing. It transforms from one kind of creature into a completely different kind. Real science fiction stuff.

After about 10-12 days in the hanging green chrysalis the skin becomes translucent and you can see the adult butterfly inside. Once again the casing splits open and a fully formed adult butterfly crawls out and hangs upside down while fluids are pumped into the wings, until they expand and harden. Soon after the butterfly will take flight and beginning feeding on the nectar of flowers. At this time of year these adult Monarchs will migrate south to Mexico to spend and winter. Once again performing another amazing feat of nature.

Last winter I was thrilled to visit one of the wintering sites in southern California to see thousands of adult monarchs spending the winter clinging to the leaves and branches of trees waiting for their time to migrate northward. You can go to www.naturesmart.com and search for this story and learn more about the most amazing Monarch Butterfly. Until next time...

Stan Tekiela is an author / naturalist and wildlife photographer who travels the US to study and photograph wildlife. He can be followed on www.facebook.com and twitter.com. He can be contacted via his web page at www.naturesmart.com.