Native Range: United States and southern Canada, Pennsylvania*
Size: Wingspan: 23-28 mm (0.91 – 1.14 in)*
Active: Spring – fall. Two or more generations per year. Larva overwinters.*
Color and Appearance: “Adult: male’s wings above iridescent pale blue with brownish-gray along outer margin; forewings with a short oblique black bar near middle; hindwings with a row of submarginal black spots and a small orange spot at the base of each projecting tail. Female’s wings larger with longer tails, gray above on body and wings, 2 or 3 small orange spots with black dots near margin of hindwings. Wings of both sexes below silvery gray with small dark spots and a few orange spots near margin of hindwings.” *
August 13, 2020: As I was starting dinner on August 5, I looked out the window and saw a monarch pausing to lay an egg on the leaf of our common milkweed. My camera did not get a very clear picture, but it is there. A week later the egg is gone, and there is some evidence of munching on neighboring leaves. I couldn’t find the caterpillar, but he or she may be hiding.
Monarch Butterfly on Butterfly Milkweed
Monarch Butterfly on Cup Plant
Monarch Butterfly on Cup Plant
Left-most White Dot is Monarch Egg on Common Milkweed Leaf