Monarch Butterfly - female

Description:

The female Monarch butterfly has six microscopic needles on each foreleg. In search of a suitable place to lay her eggs, she taps these six foreleg needles into the milkweed several times causing the milkweed fluids to flow onto the surface of the leaf. The female tastes and smells the fluids and determines whether the milkweed is suitable for laying her eggs. She determines this by use of taste sensors on the bottom of the other four legs and the smell sensors on the ends of each of the antennae. Normally she lays only one egg on the bottom of a single milkweed leaf, but she lays a total of about 600 eggs altogether. The milkweed must contain enough water and nutrients to supply the vital requirements for the growth and survival of the baby caterpillar once it emerges from its egg.

Habitat:

Southern Canada - South America. Open habitats including fields, meadows, weedy areas, marshes, and roadsides. Host Plant: Milkweed (Asclepias).

Notes:

More images & information on the Monarch butterfly: http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/115... http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/109...