Guardian Nature School Team Contact Blog Project Noah Facebook Project Noah Twitter

A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife

Join Project Noah!
nature school apple icon

Project Noah Nature School visit nature school

Monarch

Danaus plexippus

Notes:

he Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) is a milkweed butterfly (subfamily Danainae), in the family Nymphalidae. It is perhaps the best known of all North American butterflies. Since the 19th century, it has been found in New Zealand, and in Australia since 1871 where it is called the Wanderer.[3][4][5] It is resident in the Canary Islands, the Azores, and Madeira, and is found as an occasional migrant in Western Europe and a rare migrant in the United Kingdom where it is called the Milkweed [1]. Its wings feature an easily recognizable orange and black pattern, with a wingspan of 8.9–10.2 centimetres (3½–4 in).[6] (The Viceroy butterfly has a similar size, color, and pattern, but can be distinguished by an extra black stripe across the hind wing.) Female Monarchs have darker veins on their wings, and the males have a spot called the "androconium" in the center of each hind wing[7] from which pheromones are released. Males are also slightly larger.

Species ID Suggestions



Sign in to suggest organism ID

No Comments

AshleyLafferty
Spotted by
AshleyLafferty

Arizona, USA

Spotted on Apr 14, 2010
Submitted on Apr 14, 2012

Related Spottings

Danaus Southern monarch Plain tiger Monarch

Nearby Spottings

Squirrel Monkey Orangutan Green Heron Coyote
Noah Guardians
Noah Sponsors
join Project Noah Team

Join the Project Noah Team