Monarch butterfly 



The apple tree's shade tempts me; I sit in its quiet and 

 cool. My eyes rest on the colors in a special patch a cluster 

 of milkweed, goldenrod and wild carrot. Some folks call these 

 plants "weeds." I insist that they are flowers, beautiful in 

 themselves, more so because they attract butterfly beauties 

 monarchs, swallowtails and fritillaries. 



Of these, the monarch is my favorite. A common butter- 

 fly, yes, and so closely associated with the milkweed plant 

 that it is often called the milkweed butterfly. Because I can 

 so easily observe its egg-larva-pupa-adult life cycle on a milk- 

 weed stalk, I like it best. 



Each time I watch this drama of insect life it seems more 

 breathtaking than before. A tiny egg is laid; the sun hatches 

 it into a caterpillar. Then this groveling worm grows, chang- 

 ing into the mummy-like pupa known as a butterfly chrysalis. 

 Finally, the adult monarch in all its loveliness emerges from 

 the chrysalis and flies away in the summer sunshine to spend 

 a free and airy life among the nectar-filled flowers. 



But this is not all. Soon the monarchs will form flocks, and 

 will fly to the South, fleeing the cold. They will fly along 

 "lanes" that their predecessors have taken; they will find 

 these paths almost unerringly, although none in these flocks 

 has ever made the trip before. In the South they will mate. 

 The males will die there, but the females will journey back. 

 And tiny new eggs will be laid here again, and here in the 

 sun and warmth they will hatch, and the cycle will again 

 begin. 



I sit in the shade, quietly watching, and I marvel. 



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