By: Markie Garrison INTRODUCTION: Hi! I am here to tell you about the Queen Butterfly! This beautiful butterfly can only live for a few weeks, but spends months as a caterpillar before it turns into a butterfly! The queen butterfly lives in the Sonoran Desert and likes open, sunny areas! The queen butterfly lives off of nectar from flowers including milkweeds. The queen is a large butterfly that can be brown or orange. Butterflies are only active when it is hot and sunny outside. Don't forget to take the quiz and do the exciting activity that I have provided for you! The Queen Butterfly is a large butterfly that is formally known as the danaus gilippus. Most species of butterflies, including the Queen butterfly, can only live only a few weeks, but it takes months for a caterpillar to become an adult butterfly.  WHERE DO I LIVE?Queens are common from the southerly parts of the US, into South American, generally in open areas, and are one of the most common butterflies living in the Sonoran desert area. This butterfly can be found in open, sunny areas including fields, deserts, roadsides, pastures, dunes, washes, and waterways. WHAT DO I EAT? The adult butterfly lives off the energy of the sugar that it sips from flowers, called nectar. Nectar from flowers including milkweeds, fog fruit, and shepherd's needle. HOW DO I LOOK? The Queen is a very large butterfly that is colored chocolate brown which has wings that are edged in black as well as a few white spots on its wings.The Queen is a close relative of the Monarch butterfly, which is far more orange and much larger. The male queens have a black spot on the hind wings, while their caterpillar is very brightly banded with rows of lime, black and yellow.  When in the fourth and final stage of their lives, adult butterflies are constantly on the look out to reproduce and when a female lays their eggs on some leaves, the butterfly life cycle will start all over. If you see two adult butterflies with their abdomens linked tail-to-tail, they are mating. The male grasps the female and deposits a sperm packet, which fertilizes the female's eggs. The butterflies can fly while mating, but they usually avoid moving unless they are disturbed. FUN FACTS ABOUT ME! Queens are only active if it is sunny and warm. A male Queen's black spots are easily visable when his wings are open. NOW LET'S HAVE SOME FUN!
Kindergarteners: Use the Internet to find a cool picture of me. Print the picture, cut it out, and glue it into your journal. Below the picture, write your favorite thing you learned about me!
1st and 2nd graders: Use the Internet to find a cool picture of me. Print the picture, cut it out, and glue in into your journal. Below the picture, write 2-3 sentences about me!
3rd graders: Use the Internet to find a picture of me. Print the picture, cut it out, and glue it into your journal. Below the picture write a one-paragraph, fictional story about me!
YOU CAN FIND MORE INFORMATION ABOUT ME BELOW: It's Nature. Let's Discover! Butterflies and Moths of North America The Butterfly Site American Museum of Natural History - The Butterfly Conservatory |