Rocket spots a striped caterpillar munching a milkweed leaf. "Is that a baby butterfly?" he asks.
Raven nods slowly. "What do you notice? It does not look like a butterfly at all."
Nova zooms in with her scanner. "It changes a lot as it grows," she says. "Let's find each stage."
Rocket grabs his notebook to draw.
A monarch butterfly has four stages: egg, larva, pupa and adult.
The egg hatches about four days after it is laid.
The larva is a caterpillar. Monarch caterpillars eat only milkweed leaves.
A new caterpillar is less than 1 centimeter long. It grows to about 5 centimeters.
Next, the caterpillar becomes a pupa, called a chrysalis.
In as few as five days, an adult butterfly comes out.
This big four stage change is called complete metamorphosis.
Each monarch stage takes time.
The egg hatches in about four days.
The caterpillar eats milkweed and grows from under 1 centimeter to about 5 centimeters.
An adult can come out of the chrysalis in as few as five days.
Summer monarch adults live about 2 to 5 weeks.
| Monarch facts | True or false? |
|---|---|
| A monarch has four stages. | ? |
| A new caterpillar is about the size of your hand. | ? |
| The pupa stage is called a chrysalis. | ? |
| Monarch caterpillars eat many kinds of leaves. | ? |
What a change! Tomorrow you plant seeds and watch the very start of a life cycle.