The life cycle of a Monarch butterfly - Danaus plexippus - begins on the underside of a milkweed leaf when the female deposits an egg no larger that the head of a pin. The stripped caterpillar that emerges three (3) to twelve (12) days later immediately starts feeding on the milkweed plants. Within two (2) weeks the larva will have multiplied its original weight by 2,700 times. A six-pound baby that grew at the same rate would weight eight (8) tons!
The larva sheds its skin five times as it grows. The final shedding occurs when the fully developed caterpillar has stopped eating and located a sheltered perch, such as a tree limb or a windowsill. Here the larva weaves a dense mat of silk, then grips the fiber while violently dislodging its last larval skin to reveal the pupa.
This fragile blue-green pouch, studded with gold spots that control color in the developing wings, turns transparent in about two weeks, exposing the features of a grown butterfly. Cracks then spread across the chrysalis wall and the adult gingerly appears, pumping body fluid into its limp, fleshy wings. The adult monarch - wings expanded - now soars away to propagate a new generation. The process from egg to adult takes about five weeks.
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