Missouri’s Caterpillars and Monarch Butterflies

Discover nature this week with Missouri’s caterpillars. The vibrant wings of butterflies catch your eyes, and many individuals discover. But few discover naturally drab caterpillars.

Butterflies discover mates, reproduce, and die. Caterpillars have a lot greater jobs. They hatch from tiny eggs to develop into fats, fleshy larvae. Then they remodel into sleek adults. All that takes numerous power, so caterpillars are principally consuming machines.

Most caterpillars solely eat the leaves of sure vegetation. Monarch caterpillars eat milkweeds, and monarch butterflies test every plant to ensure it’s a milkweed earlier than laying eggs on it. This ensures that their younger have the correct meals out there upon hatching. Regal fritillary caterpillars eat violet leaves, and regal fritillary butterflies lay their eggs in areas the place violets are prone to develop and belief that their younger will inch their solution to violet vegetation.

Monarch larvae feed on a wide range of milkweeds, which include cardiac glycosides. These chemical compounds are saved within the insect’s physique and render it unpalatable and poisonous to many predators. The vibrant shade patterns of each monarch larvae and adults promote their toxicity to would-be predators. As adults, monarchs devour the nectar of all kinds of flowers, notably New England aster and different members of the sunflower household.

Broods are produced in Missouri in summer time and fall. Adults migrate to Mexico in late summer time and fall; then, once they fly north in spring, they reproduce in Oklahoma or Texas. Their offspring proceed northward, returning “home” some generations later. Eggs are laid within the spring and summer time and hatch in about 4 days. After about two weeks, the caterpillar enters the chrysalis stage. The mature butterfly emerges in about two weeks.

More details about caterpillars and butterflies in Missouri could be discovered on-line at MissouriConservation.org.