Monarch Butterfly on Lantana Flowers

by Catherine Sherman

Title

Monarch Butterfly on Lantana Flowers

Artist

Catherine Sherman

Medium

Photograph - Photography

Description

"Monarch Butterfly on Lantana Flowers" by Catherine Sherman.

A Monarch Butterfly sips nectar from lantana blossoms as it straddles two flower heads in a garden in the Deanna Rose Children's Farmstead in Overland Park, Kansas.

The Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) is a milkweed butterfly (subfamily Danainae) in the family Nymphalidae. It is probably the best known of all North American butterflies. Since the 19th century, it has been found in New Zealand, and in Australia since 1871, where it is called the wanderer. It is resident in the Canary Islands, the Azores, and Madeira, and is found as an occasional migrant in Western Europe and a rare migrant in the United Kingdom. Its wings feature an easily recognizable orange and black pattern. (The viceroy butterfly is similar in color and pattern, but is markedly smaller, and has an extra black stripe across the hind wing.) Female monarchs have darker veins on their wings, and the males have a spot called the androconium in the center of each hind wing. Males are also slightly larger than female monarchs.

The monarch is famous for its southward late summer/autumn migration from the United States and southern Canada to Mexico and coastal California, and northward return in spring, which occurs over the lifespans of three to four generations of the butterfly. Canadian entomologists Fred and Norah Urquhart determined the migration route after a 38-year search, aided by naturalists Kenneth C. Brugger and Catalina Trail who solved the final piece of the puzzle by identifying the butterflies' overwintering sites in Mexico. The discovery has been called the "entomological discovery of the 20th century."

Featured in "Butterflies Are Forever" group (09/23/2014); "Nature Landmarks Landscapes Wildlife" group (12/3/2014) : "Beauty" group (12/06/2014); "Wildlife -One a Day" group (07/10/2016); "Groovy Butterflies" group (01/07/2017); "USA Photographers Only" group (03/06/2017); "500 And Beyond Fine Art" group (03/14/2017); "ABC Group" (07/29/2021)

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September 24th, 2013

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