Monarch butterfly

Monarch butterfly
	Male
	Female
Conservation status
	; Least Concern (IUCN 3.1) (entire species)
	; Vulnerable (IUCN 3.1) (migratory subspecies)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Nymphalidae
Genus:	Danaus
Species:	D. plexippus
Binomial name
	Danaus plexippus; (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms
	Papilio plexippus (Linnaeus, 1758); Danaus archippus (Fabricius, 1793); Danaus menippe (Hübner, 1816); Anosia plexippus (Moore, 1883);

The monarch butterfly or simply monarch (Danaus plexippus) is a milkweed butterfly (subfamily Danainae) in the family Nymphalidae.^[6] Other common names, depending on region, include milkweed, common tiger, wanderer, and black-veined brown.^[7] It is among the most familiar of North American butterflies and an iconic pollinator,^[8] although it is not an especially effective pollinator of milkweeds.^[9]^[10] Its wings feature an easily recognizable black, orange, and white pattern, with a wingspan of 8.9–10.2 cm (3.5–4.0 in).^[11] A Müllerian mimic, the viceroy butterfly, is similar in color and pattern, but is markedly smaller and has an extra black stripe across each hindwing.

The eastern North American monarch population is notable for its annual southward late-summer/autumn instinctive migration from the northern and central United States and southern Canada to Florida and Mexico.^[6] During the fall migration, monarchs cover thousands of miles, with a corresponding multigenerational return north in spring. The western North American population of monarchs west of the Rocky Mountains often migrates to sites in southern California, but individuals have been found in overwintering Mexican sites, as well.^[12]^[13] In 2009, monarchs were reared on the International Space Station, successfully emerging from pupae located in the station's Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus.^[14]^[15]

^ Walker, A.; Thogmartin, W. E.; Oberhauser, K. S.; Pelton, E. M.; Pleasants, J. M. (2022). "Danaus plexippus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2022: e.T159971A806727. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2022-1.RLTS.T159971A806727.en. Retrieved December 6, 2022.
^ "Migratory Monarch Butterfly". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
^ Cite error: The named reference RoyEntSoc was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference Scudder was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Moore (1883). "Anosia plexippus". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London: 234–235. (Cited in Scudder, Samuel Hubbard; Davis, William M.; Woodworth, Charles W.; Howard, Leland O.; Riley, Charles V.; Williston, Samuel (1889). The Butterflies of the Eastern United States and Canada: With Special Reference to New England: Anosia plexippus - The Monarch. Vol. 1. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The author. p. 720. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.9161. ISBN 978-0-665-26322-4. LCCN 06021638. OCLC 2604754. Retrieved December 27, 2023 – via HathiTrust.)
^ ^a ^b Agrawal, Anurag (March 7, 2017). Monarchs and Milkweed: A Migrating Butterfly, a Poisonous Plant, and Their Remarkable Story of Coevolution. Princeton University Press. ISBN 9781400884766.
^ Cite error: The named reference nic.funet.fi was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ "Conserving Monarch Butterflies and their Habitats". USDA. 2015.
^ Jones, Patricia L.; Agrawal, Anurag A. (2016). "Consequences of toxic secondary compounds in nectar for mutualist bees and antagonist butterflies". Ecology. 97 (10): 2570–2579. Bibcode:2016Ecol...97.2570J. doi:10.1002/ecy.1483. hdl:1813/66741. ISSN 1939-9170. PMID 27859127.
^ MacIvor, James Scott; Roberto, Adriano N.; Sodhi, Darwin S.; Onuferko, Thomas M.; Cadotte, Marc W. (2017). "Honey bees are the dominant diurnal pollinator of native milkweed in a large urban park". Ecology and Evolution. 7 (20): 8456–8462. Bibcode:2017EcoEv...7.8456M. doi:10.1002/ece3.3394. ISSN 2045-7758. PMC 5648680. PMID 29075462.
^ Cite error: The named reference Garber was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference Groth was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference JointVenture was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ "Butterflies Emerge from Cocoons Aboard Station". NASA. 2009. Archived from the original on December 15, 2009.
^ "First Monarch butterflies in space take flight". NBC News. December 9, 2009. Retrieved November 12, 2023.

[1] Walker, A.; Thogmartin, W. E.; Oberhauser, K. S.; Pelton, E. M.; Pleasants, J. M. (2022). "Danaus plexippus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2022: e.T159971A806727. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2022-1.RLTS.T159971A806727.en. Retrieved December 6, 2022.

[IUCN-2] "Migratory Monarch Butterfly". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

[RoyEntSoc-3] Cite error: The named reference RoyEntSoc was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Scudder-4] Cite error: The named reference Scudder was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[5] Moore (1883). "Anosia plexippus". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London: 234–235. (Cited in Scudder, Samuel Hubbard; Davis, William M.; Woodworth, Charles W.; Howard, Leland O.; Riley, Charles V.; Williston, Samuel (1889). The Butterflies of the Eastern United States and Canada: With Special Reference to New England: Anosia plexippus - The Monarch. Vol. 1. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The author. p. 720. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.9161. ISBN 978-0-665-26322-4. LCCN 06021638. OCLC 2604754. Retrieved December 27, 2023 – via HathiTrust.)

[Agrawal-2017-6] Agrawal, Anurag (March 7, 2017). Monarchs and Milkweed: A Migrating Butterfly, a Poisonous Plant, and Their Remarkable Story of Coevolution. Princeton University Press. ISBN 9781400884766.

[nic.funet.fi-7] Cite error: The named reference nic.funet.fi was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[8] "Conserving Monarch Butterflies and their Habitats". USDA. 2015.

[9] Jones, Patricia L.; Agrawal, Anurag A. (2016). "Consequences of toxic secondary compounds in nectar for mutualist bees and antagonist butterflies". Ecology. 97 (10): 2570–2579. Bibcode:2016Ecol...97.2570J. doi:10.1002/ecy.1483. hdl:1813/66741. ISSN 1939-9170. PMID 27859127.

[10] MacIvor, James Scott; Roberto, Adriano N.; Sodhi, Darwin S.; Onuferko, Thomas M.; Cadotte, Marc W. (2017). "Honey bees are the dominant diurnal pollinator of native milkweed in a large urban park". Ecology and Evolution. 7 (20): 8456–8462. Bibcode:2017EcoEv...7.8456M. doi:10.1002/ece3.3394. ISSN 2045-7758. PMC 5648680. PMID 29075462.

[Garber-11] Cite error: The named reference Garber was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Groth-12] Cite error: The named reference Groth was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[JointVenture-13] Cite error: The named reference JointVenture was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[14] "Butterflies Emerge from Cocoons Aboard Station". NASA. 2009. Archived from the original on December 15, 2009.

[15] "First Monarch butterflies in space take flight". NBC News. December 9, 2009. Retrieved November 12, 2023.

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