Monarch Watch 2000 in Central Park

Dana Center * Belvedere Castle * Wildflower Meadow

Butterfly Metamorphosis     July 16, 2000 to September 16, 2000

Tagging Event                      September 22, 2000

1.

 IF YOU SEE—

 A small, off-white, thin-shelled egg with ridges, you are witnessing the first stage of a Monarch butterfly’s life.

 A female Monarch usually lays an egg on the underside of a milkweed leaf near the top of the plant. The milkweed is the caterpillar’s food plant, so when the egg hatches 3-5 days later the caterpillar won’t have far to go to find food.

 2.

 IF YOU SEE—

 A yellow-and-black-striped caterpillar with black tentacles at both ends you are witnessing the second or larval stage of a Monarch butterfly’s life.

 After hatching the caterpillar (or larva, as it is also known) eats from the milkweed continuously for about fifteen days. You might see a newly hatched larva also eating its egg shell. The larva grows rapidly. When it gets too big for its skin it molts, meaning it sheds it’s outer skin (just as snakes do) and grows a new covering. It then eats and grows some more, molting it’s old skin four times.

 Just before it moves into the third stage, the caterpillar will spin a silk mat from which it will hang as it pupates. The caterpillar jabs a spike, known as the cremaster, from its rear end into the mat and proceeds to hang upside down.

 3.

 IF YOU SEE—

 A smooth, mummy-like green casing with golden spots hanging from the roof of the tank or from a leaf or twig, you’re witnessing the pupal or third stage of a butterfly’s life.

 Although you can’t see inside the butterfly’s beautiful chrysalis—sometimes called the “jade house with the golden nails” —more changes are taking place. By this time the pupa, also called a chrysalis, is well on its way to becoming a butterfly. The adult monarch will emerge 10-14 days after pupating. A day or two before hatching the chrysalis will darken as the adult inside begins to take on coloration. An hour or two before the hatch the wings will become a vivid orange and you’ll be able to see all the butterfly’s markings clearly through the covering.

 4.

 IF YOU SEE—

 A large orange-and-black butterfly you’re witnessing the fourth or adult stage of the Monarch’s life.

 The hatch is sudden and swift. Within the first hour a full-sized adult will unfurl its damp and rumpled wings and begin to move about. At this point it will excrete the waste fluids that collected during the pupal stage, called mecomium, which many people consider unpleasant smelling.

 After several hours the wings will have developed enough to enable some flight. After the adult Monarch has been tagged it will be set free. It will take off in search of a mate, to begin again the life cycle of the Monarch butterfly.

 Monarch Watch 2000 in Central Park is a partnership of City of New York Parks and Recreation, Henry J. Stern, Commissioner, Urban Park Rangers, Alexander Brash, Chief,  and Mastervision, 969 Park Ave., NY NY,10028, Richard Stadin, President.

Ó Copyright Mastervision 2000