Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Superfamily: Papilionoidea
Family: Nymphalidae
Subfamily: Danainae
Tribe: Danaini
Genus: Danaus
Species: D. plexippu
Scientific Name: Danaus plexippus
Common Name: Monarch Butterfly
The monarch arrived in New Zealand about 120 years` ago crossing the Pacific from North America. It is New Zealand's largest resident butterfly. Its caterpillar's food is the Swan plant ( Gomphocarpus). Their live cycle is two weeks as a caterpillar, two weeks as a chrysalis and about two months as a butterfly.
Female Monarchs have darker veins on their wings, and the males have a black spot in the centre of each hindwing from which pheromones are released. Males are also slightly larger. See photo at bottom of this page.
A monarch butterfly caterpillars
The caterpillar has just attached itself to a branch in preparation for forming a chrysalis
The next stage of forming a chrysalis
The monarch butterfly chrysalis
The monarch butterfly chrysalis with the developing butterfly's wing patterns just visible.
A chrysalis on a swan plant
Mating butterflies.
The butterfly of Danaus plexippus male. Notice the black pheromone releasing spot on each hind wing.
Thanks to Wikipedia for text and information: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
