Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus)

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Monarch butterfly - Wikipedia
Monarch Butterfly Lifecycle - University of Minnesota
13 Monarch Predators - Monarch Butterfly Garden

I grew some tropical milkweeds in the back yard, and they attracted monarchs. In the fall of 2016, one or more monarchs came ot the yard daily, I spotted multiple larvae eating the leaves and stems of the milkweeds and found one chrysalis at the beginning of 2017.

A female monarch butterfly on a tropical milkweed on May 10, 2017. Males have a black scent spot in the lower part of the 1st black vein on the hind wing, and this female does not have such a spot.

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Here is the ventral side of the same butterfly on May 10, 2017.

On December 12, 2016, I saw a third instar monarch larva on one of the milkweeds. It had to compete with early instar oleander aphids and the ants that protected them.
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A final instar larva, in better circumstances, on January 1, 2017
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On January 2, 2017, I discovered this chrysalis on a arugula leaf stem after I pulled the leaf off the plant to eat it. I fit the stem into a tomato cage so the butterfly could complete its pupation, but I'm afraid the hard freeze later that week probably killed it.
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