Monarch butterfly

Danaus plexippus · The monarch is a black, orange and white milkweed butterfly famous across North America, and it also lives in parts of South America, Europe, Oceania and Southeast Asia.

Also called Monarch, Common tiger wanderer, Black-veined brown, Common tiger, Milkweed.

Monarch butterfly
Photo: Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0
Monarch butterfly
Photo: Kenneth Dwain Harrelson, CC BY-SA 3.0
Monarch butterfly
Photo: Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0

Taxonomy

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumArthropoda
ClassInsecta
OrderLepidoptera
FamilyNymphalidae
GenusDanaus
SpeciesDanaus plexippus

Where it lives

Across the Americas, wintering in central Mexico and coastal California.

Fun facts

  • Monarchs were raised on the International Space Station in 2009, and the butterflies successfully emerged from their pupae there.
  • Monarch caterpillars eat poisonous milkweed, which makes the butterflies toxic and foul-tasting to predators.
  • A monarch was the first butterfly to have its genome sequenced.
  • A monarch caterpillar can wander up to 10 meters from its milkweed plant to find a safe place to turn into a chrysalis.

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Facts and taxonomy adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).