1. The Life Cycle of a Monarch Butterfly A presentation by Nicole Gaughan

2. You Will Learn…. • What a life cycle is • The life cycle of a Monarch butterfly • The stages a Monarch butterfly goes through • Some vocabulary terms that go along with the stages

3. Life Cycles • A life cycle is all the changes that happen to an organism between birth and death. • A life stage is a change or event that happens at one point of life. • Metamorphosis is a series of life stages that an insect goes through to become and adult. Butterflies have four life stages during their life cycle.

4. Monarch Butterfly Life Cycle Stages Egg 1. 2. Caterpillar 3. 4. Chrysalis Adult Butterfly

5. Stage 1: The Egg • found on the underside of milkweed leaves • tiny, round and oval in shape and size • hatches in 3-5 days when the weather is warm

6. Stage 2: The Caterpillar (or larva) • long and worm like • usually brightly colored with an interesting pattern • sheds its skin a couple of times because it’s growing bigger • stays a caterpillar for about 14 days

7. Stage 3: The Chrysalis (or pupa) • transformation stage • caterpillar spins a cocoon (a silk covering) • made when a caterpillar spins silk and attaches itself to a branch • starts out a green color and then turns brown and orange • takes 10-12 days for the butterfly to be ready • Butterfly emerging from the chrysalis

8. Stage 4: Adult Butterfly • the butterfly is fully developed • it doesn’t grow anymore • it can only eat liquids • usually lives for 14-42 days

9. Summary Life Cycle Stages: • 1. Egg: found on leaves and stems of milkweed plants, tiny, oval in shape and hatches in 3-5 days • 2. Caterpillar: long and worm like, usually brightly colored with an interesting pattern and sheds its skin a couple of times because it’s growing bigger • 3. Chrysalis: transformation stage, usually brown or green, made when a caterpillar spins silk and attaches itself to a branch and takes 10-12 days for the butterfly to be ready • 4. Adult Butterfly: the butterfly is fully developed, it doesn’t grow anymore and it can only eat liquids

10. Acknowledgements • Butterfly stages chart http://www.hhmi.org/coolscience/butterfly/index.html • Monarch butterfly picture http://www.kidzone.ws/animals/monarch_butterfly.htm • caterpillar picture http://www.kidzone.ws/animals/monarch_butterfly.htm • Butterfly eggs picture http://home.vicnet.net.au/~fbpw/but_fly1.htm • Butterfly stages information http://www.usd.edu/esci/age/content/natural_clocks/butterfly/butterfly.htmlhttp://home.vicnet.net.au/~fbpw/but_fly1.htm • Chrysalis picture http://www.usd.edu/esci/age/content/natural_clocks/butterfly/butterfly.html • Butterfly life cycle video http://education.apple.com/education/ilife/project_template.php?project_id=83&subject_id=4 • Butterfly emerging from chrysalis website pictures http://www.adver-net.com/Monemerg.html