MONARCH (Danaus plexippus)

Flight Period: Multiple brooded in the Southwest U.S. and below 6,000 ft. in Mexico and other countries.  Over 100 million monarchs diapause as adults at several sites from November through March in central Mexico.  In the western U.S., hundreds of thousands overwinter along the coast of California in over 300 sites from northern Baja California, Mexico to north of San Francisco, California. 

Range: Native to North America south to Argentina.  During the past two centuries, the monarch butterfly has established populations in Australia, the Antilles, Azores, Bahamas, Bermuda, Canary Islands, Ceylon, Cuba, Hawaii, India, New Caledonia, New Guinea, and New Zealand.

Host Plants: Milkweed (Asclepias, Calotropis, Cynanchum, Matelea, and Sarcostemma spp.).

Wing Span: 3 1/2 - 4" (89 - 102 mm).