The Monarch Butterfly is widely known and recognizable by its orange and black markings, but maybe not as well-known as a pollinator. Its Latin name, Danau plexippus, literally means ‘sleepy transformation’, due to its metamorphosis within its chrysalis from a pupa to an adult in as few as five days and up to 14 days. Adults have two pairs of bright orange wings with black veins and white spots on their edges. Males have black dots along the veins of their wings and are slightly larger.
The monarch has the most highly evolved migration pattern of any known species of any butterfly or insect species, migrating as far as Canada to Mexico. However, their migration has been threatened by climate change. Milkweed plant species are the only plants that monarchs will lay eggs on and the only source of food for baby caterpillars. Much of their food source and habitat has become scarce, resulting in the Monarch’s decline since the 1980s. The species was listed as an endangered species in 2022 under the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).