THE JOURNEY OF LIFE
UNDERSTANDING THE LIFE CYCLE OF THE MONARCH BUTTERFLY
When God created the Heavens and the Earth, He created all life as we know it to exist today. Then God paused and said, “It is good.” Now we as humans live and experience this life in the exact manner in which God meant for it to be. Life is a Journey, we have been given the time and space in which to experience this journey in. The cycle of life we go through to reach the next stage in our growth and development process is misunderstood by many, and many others never really take the time to understand what it really means to be born, to live, to experience the journey, to die and be born again and again as we journey through this life in space and time.
Each morning we awaken we are given the opportunity to look out, and look all around us and see the life of animals; plants and all life as it exist right in front of us. There is life in all things and God made it that way and placed it in our care.
Today, we want to share with you the journey and life cycle of the Monarch Butterflies. They are the most beautiful of all butterflies, some say, and are considered the “king” of the butterflies, hence the name “monarch”.
Monarch butterflies go through four stages during one life cycle, and through four generations in one year. It’s a little confusing but keep reading and you will understand. The four stages of the MONARCH BUTTERFLY LIFE CYCLE are the egg, the larvae (caterpillar), the pupa (chrysalis), and the adult butterfly. The four generations are actually four different butterflies going through these four stages during one year until it is time to start over again with stage one and generation one.
In February and March, the final generation of hibernating MONARCH BUTTERFLIES comes out of hibernation to find a mate. They then migrate north and east in order to find a place to lay their eggs. This starts stage one and generation one of the New Year for the monarch butterfly.
In March and April the eggs are laid on milkweed plants. They hatch into baby caterpillars, also called the larvae. It takes about four days for the eggs to hatch. Then the baby caterpillar doesn’t do much more than eat the milkweed in order to grow. After about two weeks, the caterpillar will be fully-grown and find a place to attach itself so that it can start the process of metamorphosis. It will attach itself to a stem or a leaf using silk and transform into a chrysalis. Although,
from the outside, the 10 days of the chrysalis phase seems to be a time when nothing is happening, it is really a time of rapid change. Within the chrysalis the old body parts of the caterpillar are undergoing a remarkable transformation, called metamorphosis, to become the beautiful parts that make up the butterfly that will emerge. The monarch butterfly will emerge from the pupa and fly away, feeding on FLOWERS and just enjoying the short life it has left, which is only about two to six weeks. This first generation monarch butterfly will then die after laying eggs for generation number two.
The second generation of monarch butterflies is born in May and June, and then the third generation will be born in July and August. These monarch butterflies will go through exactly the same four stage life cycle as the first generation did; dying two to six weeks after it becomes a beautiful monarch butterfly.
The fourth generation of monarch butterflies is a little bit different than the first three generations. The fourth generation is born in September and October and goes through exactly the same process as the first, second and third generations except for one part. The fourth generation of monarch butterflies does not die after two to six weeks. Instead, this generation of MONARCH BUTTERFLIES MIGRATES to warmer climates like Mexico and California and will live for six to eight months until it is time to start the whole process over again.
It is amazing how the four generations of monarch butterflies works out so that the monarch population can continue to live on throughout the years, but not become overpopulated. Mother Nature sure has some
cool ways of doing things, doesn’t she?
On this next video clip you will be able to see the complete life cycle of the Monarch-Butterfly.
We give credit for the information contained in this article to Monarch-Butterfly.Com: Click on this link and check out their website for additional info. http://www.Monarch-Butterfly.com
We thank you for taking the time to visit with us as you begin to prepare for your 4th of July Holiday Celebration. Take time to look around and discover some of these beautiful creatures God has made just for us. May your journey be a safety and peaceful and fun time. Remember to take the Lord with you that He may keep you safe and secure in all that you do. You pray for us and we will pray for you. In Jesus name, AMEN!
- Complete Life Cycle of the Monarch Butterfly (ecology.com)
- Teaching Kids About Bugs (thegreenery.ca)
- Monarch butterflies “photos” (photographyfreestyle.wordpress.com)
- Monarch butterfly makes colorful comeback (cbsnews.com)
- Monarch butterflies need Milkweed (roserichard.wordpress.com)
- Jaap de Roode: Monarch butterflies use plants for medicine (earthsky.org)
- How to Attract Butterflies to Your Garden (proflowers.com)
- Butterflies and Our Metamorphosis (thesovereign.wordpress.com)
- Monarch Butterflies (dcmontreal.wordpress.com)