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monarch

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Monarch Butterfly
Scientific Name: Nymphalidae Danainae
Description: The monarch is one of Manitoba's largest butterflies, with a wingspan of up to 100 mm. The body of the butterfly is black with some white spots. The upper surfaces of the wings are orange with black veining. The wing margins are black with white spots. Males can be distinguished from the females by a black patch on their hind wings, called a stigmata. Underneath, the wings are a paler orange, almost beige, with the same black veining and borders. The caterpillar (larva) of monarchs is boldly patterned, too, with black, white and yellow banding.
Distribution: Monarchs occur throughout North America south of the boreal forest zone, in Central America and northern South America. (It has recently been determined that the South American monarch and those found on Jamaica and Hispaniola are separate species, D. erippus and D. cleophile, respectively. Their distributions are not shown on this map.) Monarchs have been introduced to the Hawaiian Islands and to Australia, and are thought to be spreading around to other islands in the Pacific ocean on their own. There are 3 separate populations in continental North America: one east of the Rocky Mountains, another west of the Rockies, and a third, non-migratory population in Florida and Georgia. In Manitoba, they occur in the southwestern 1/3 of the province up to the edge of the boreal forest.
Habitat: Just about anywhere you can find milkweed plants (Genus: Asclepias) and open meadows, you can find monarch butterflies. They frequent prairies, meadows and wetlands, but avoid thick forests. Food for the caterpillars, milkweed plants, and for the adults, flower nectar, are found mainly in grasslands and meadows in Manitoba, so that's where monarchs tend to be.
Food: Food for adult monarch butterflies consists mainly of flower nectar. They fuel their great travels and reproductive efforts by sipping this sugary solution from obliging plants. The plants are, of course, taking advantage of the monarchs and other insects to do the job of pollination. Most of their favourites fall within the Asteraceae family of plants, including such things as fleabanes (Erigeron spp.), asters (Aster spp.), sunflowers (Helianthus spp.) and blazingstars (Liatris spp.), but they are not really that selective when it comes to flower nectar. Any flower that has available nectar could be visited by a monarch.
(Source: www.naturenorth.com/summer/monarch/monarchF2.html)

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© Chris Burns 2019

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This image may not be copied, reproduced, distributed, republished, downloaded, displayed, posted or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic, mechanical, photocopying and recording without my written consent.

Taken in: Australia / Queensland / Brisbane / Corinda (show map)

Taken on: May 27, 2019

Tags:

Monarch Butterfly

Nymphalidae Danainae

orange butterfly

fauna

Australian fauna

Nikon D500

Nikon 200.0-500.0 mm f/5.6 VR

Oxley Creek Common

Brisbane

Queensland

Australia

wildlife

Australian wildlife

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Sets appears in: • Butterfly • Insects more » • Oxley Creek Common « less

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Camera: Nikon D500, f/8.0, 1/250 sec, 290mm (=435mm), ISO 400 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Nikon D500
Lens:	200.0-500.0 mm f/5.6
Aperture:	f/8.0
Exposure Time:	0.004 sec (1/250)
Focal Length:	290mm (35mm equivalent: 435mm)
ISO:	400
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	No Flash
Exposure Program:	Program AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Saturation:	High
Sharpness:	Hard
Color Space:	Uncalibrated
Software:	Adobe Photoshop CC 2019 (Windows)
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