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​Milkweed and the Monarch Butterfly

Hudson School discussion… On Milkweed and Monarchs​

“The milkweeds that are now in these fields, I’m happy to see them and hope they can stay here in competition with all the goldenrods that are fighting for the same space. This is the preferred food of the Monarchs (butterflies) and typically in the fall I’ll see some of the chrysalises. They used to be more common on the field near the parking lot, but the goldenrods have outcompeted them. But here there’s still a lot of them--the normal, common milkweed. The parents, adults, will go in for the nectar, and it’s got such a cool flower. You can see it’s like five points, but if you look inside there’s like these little cups in there. To get the nectar the insect has to stick their proboscis deep in there. It’s kind of a tough go so something like a butterfly with a long thin proboscis can get in there to get the nectar, but occasionally they’ll get their foot stuck in them. So if you look at enough milkweed flowers late in the season, you’ll see a leg sticking out."

Ask a biologist: What butterflies will migrate to Mexico and California?​

Donna Vogler: “July/September you’ll see the larva. Late fall. These are the groups that will go to Mexico and California. The ones that are feeding here and laying eggs, they’ll die here.”​