Monarch butterfly

Open habitats such as meadows, roadsides, gardens, wetlands, and agricultural edges where milkweed grows. Adults migrate through North America and overwinter in Mexico or coastal California.

Caterpillars eat milkweed exclusively, accumulating cardiac toxins. Adults drink nectar from many flowering plants, including asters and goldenrods.

Adults migrate, bask, mate, and lay eggs singly on milkweed. Several generations occur annually; the final generation migrates and may live for months.

Generally harmless to humans and valuable pollinators. Their toxicity makes them distasteful to birds, while habitat loss, pesticides, and declining milkweed threaten populations.