Alight (15451540860)🦋

Photo: Christopher Michel · CC BY 2.0

SpeciesLepidopteraNymphalidae
Arthropods

🦋Monarch butterfly

Danaus plexippus (Linnaeus, 1758)

The monarch butterfly or simply monarch is a milkweed butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. Other common names, depending on region, include milkweed, common tiger, wanderer, and black-veined brown. It is among the most familiar of North American butterflies and an iconic pollinator, although it is not an especially effective pollinator of milkweeds. Its wings feature an easily recognizable black, orange, and white pattern, with a wingspan of 8.9–10.2 cm (3.5–4.0 in). A Müllerian mimic, the viceroy butterfly, is similar in color and pattern, but is markedly smaller and has an extra black stripe across each hindwing.

Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Videos
12
Photos
6
Measurements
0
Also called
Danaus plexippus, monarch, common tiger wanderer
Conservation status
LCLeast concern

IUCN Red List assessment, 2022.

Population trendDecreasing
Key measurements
Body mass
not recorded
Body length
not recorded
Shoulder height
not recorded
Top speed
not recorded
Bite force
not recorded
Maximum lifespan
not recorded
All measurements ↓
Facts and figures

Everything we know about the Monarch butterfly

Typical adult figures. Where a value is an estimate rather than a measurement, it says so.

No measurements for Monarch butterfly yet.

More

More about the Monarch butterfly

In other languages
monarque (papillon) (fr), Monarchfalter (de), monarca (ca), Danaus plexippus (it), monarchvlinder (nl), Danaus plexippus (pl) … and 25 more languages

Animals caught on camera

Real footage of the animals on this site — hunting, fighting, and getting on with it.

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