Monarch Caterpillar

All summer long monarchs will eclose from their chrysalides, mate and lay eggs. A female may lay anywhere from 400 to 1200 eggs over her 4 week life time. But at the end of the summer, a generation of monarchs comes out of chrysalis ready to live 8 months and take on a great migration to the west, to roosts along the coast. These butterflies will emerge in reproductive diapause (they will be sexually immature) and they will be ready to follow cues to a place where the temperatures and moisture are just right to allow them to wait out the winter months before they return to their summer breeding grounds in the spring.
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