{"id":919,"date":"2019-09-24T11:12:00","date_gmt":"2019-09-24T15:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/urbannaturestore.blog\/?p=919"},"modified":"2019-09-24T11:12:00","modified_gmt":"2019-09-24T15:12:00","slug":"the-monarch-is-on-the-move","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.mppdev.net\/index.php\/2019\/09\/24\/the-monarch-is-on-the-move\/","title":{"rendered":"THE MONARCH IS ON THE MOVE"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Did you know that the Monarch Butterfly is also referred to as the ‘king of the butterflies’?\u00a0 This beautiful butterfly is known for its distinctive orange, black and white markings and is one of the most recognizable butterflies we see.\u00a0 There have been many conversations in the store over recent months exclaiming how many more Monarch Butterflies have been seen this year compared to previous years.\u00a0 Customers comment on seeing them in their backyards and gardens, when on hikes, driving in cars, and almost everywhere they go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>
\"\"<\/figure><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The Monarch will produce four generations in one calendar year.\u00a0 After over-wintering in Mexico, the fourth generation of Monarchs from the previous year awake and search for water.\u00a0 Following that they will mate, and continue mating on their journey north. The females will lay pale yellow eggs on the underside leaves of milkweed plants.\u00a0 She can lay 300-500 eggs in a two to five week period. The eggs hatch into caterpillars after four to five days. The caterpillar will feed exclusively on milkweed plants.\u00a0 Two weeks later the caterpillar will attach itself to a stem or leaf and begin the metamorphosis process. The pupa (chrysalis) is a hard shell that forms around the caterpillar while it completes the remarkable transformation into the adult butterfly.\u00a0 They can stay in the cocoon stage from 5 to 21 days. Adult butterflies are seen in many different habitats as they feed on the nectar of a variety of wild flowers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Photo Credits – Alex Guillaume<\/strong><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The first generation appears from late April to early June.\u00a0 This process is repeated creating two more generations in June-July and July-August.\u00a0 The final generation, sometimes called the super generation follows in August-September.\u00a0 The first three generations of the Monarch Butterfly will only live for two to six weeks. The fourth generation is the one which migrates and overwinters in Mexico and begins the process all over again the following year. This will occur over a period of eight months.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Photo Credits – Jane Paradis<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Thousands of Monarchs can be seen on the shores of Lake Ontario and Lake Erie as they prepare for the long migration to the fir forests of Mexico.\u00a0 This is the longest and largest migration in the insect world. More than 300 million will migrate from Canada and the northern US flying 3,000 kilometres to their winter destination.\u00a0 They need to average 50 kilometres a day to achieve this. There are many questions about how these elegant butterflies know the way as they’ve never done this before. Scientists believe they follow direction cues from the sun and the magnetic field of the earth. \u00a0 Monarchs save energy by flying above rising warm air which allows them to soar. They can also speed up their flight by taking advantage of strong winds. If bad weather occurs, they will wait until it has passed. Cold weather makes them sluggish which makes it difficult for them to flap their wings, and hot weather causes them to overheat. \u00a0 Predators avoid the Monarch as they are poisonous. They ingest poisonous juices from the milkweed plant and store the toxins in their wings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I hope this look into the life of the Monarch Butterfly helps you to appreciate these delicate creatures.\u00a0 Enjoy watching the great migration!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Author – Jane Paradis<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Did you know that the Monarch Butterfly is also referred to as the ‘king of the butterflies’?\u00a0 This beautiful butterfly is known for its distinctive orange, black and white markings and is one of the most recognizable butterflies we see.\u00a0 There have been many conversations in the store over recent months exclaiming how many more […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":925,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,6],"tags":[52,30,17],"class_list":["post-919","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-janes-deck-of-birds","category-uns-birding-blog","tag-monarch","tag-unsblogs","tag-urbannaturestore"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.mppdev.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/919","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.mppdev.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.mppdev.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.mppdev.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.mppdev.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=919"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.mppdev.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/919\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.mppdev.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/925"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.mppdev.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.mppdev.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.mppdev.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}