Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Superfamily: Papilionoidea
Family: Nymphalidae
Subfamily: Danainae
Tribe: Danaini
Genus: Danaus
Species: D. plexippus
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 (Asclepias physocarpa). 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 spot in the centre of each hindwing from which pheromones are released. Males are also slightly larger.
For information on pheromones visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pheromones
A butterfly at rest.
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Danaus plexippus female (male photo below)[2]
Danaus plexippus male. Notice the pheromone releasing spot on each hind wing.
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Danaus plexippus (female)[4]
Danaus plexippus (female)
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Sunlight shining through Danaus plexippus partly translucent wings.
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A male butterfly of a swan plant the favourite food of the caterpillar.
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Danaus plexippus head ( female)
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Butterflies mating.
A monarch butterfly caterpillar[9]
The caterpillar has just attached itself to a branch in preparation for forming a chrysalis
[12]
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Next stage, forming a chrysalis.
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The monarch butterfly chrysalis
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The monarch butterfly chrysalis with the developing butterfly's wing patterns just visible.
[17]
A video: How A Caterpillar Becomes A Butterfly
Thanks to Wikipedia for text and information http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
