♀ Monarch

Description:

In my opinion these most interesting butterfly there is. These beauties travel thousands of miles every year. If you want to know more about this amazing creature, simply do a Google search. Palmer And Fowler Fieldbook of Natural History explains them as having a wingspan of up to 4 inches. The upper surfaces of the wings are a light reddish-brown with black veins and borders with two rows of white spots on the outer borders. At rest, wings are held above back, with hind wings covering most of forewings. In males, each back wing has a black sent gland.

Habitat:

In fields and along roadsides, sometimes migrating in great flocks that may settle on a single tree weighing it down.

Notes:

Their migration habits are still not completely understood. This is my second encounter with one in my backyard this summer. Haven't seen to many yet, and if I do, they don't stay still.