The monarch butterfly life cycle begins with a whirl of wings in the heat of the summer sun. As a female monarch sips nectar from a wildflower, a male hovers nearby. A pheromone is released from tiny ...
Monarchs undergo a four-stage life cycle and rely solely on milkweed plants for their egg and caterpillar stages. Monarchs in eastern North America migrate up to 3,000 miles to overwinter in Mexico.