monarch
(also ‘monarch butterfly’ and ‘milkweed butterfly’) {pronunciation: the letters ‘ch’ in monarch rhyme with the letter ‘k’ in the word “king”}
a kind of insect – belongs to the butterflies – large, colourful, poisonous – three body parts: head, thorax and abdomen – two antennae on the head, mouth part with a long spring-like organ, proboscis, large eyes, 3 pairs of legs (6 legs) and two pairs of large wings (4 wings) with very small scales on them, body covered with exoskeleton, (= hard outer cover), black body colour, tawny-orange wings with black veins and margins, two lines of small white spots on the edges of wings; size: (in terms of the width of the wings) 3-5 inches; feeds on (eats) (baby/caterpillar) only the “milkweed plant leaves”, (adult) nectar of different flowers; lives for 2 weeks to 9 months, depending on the time of birth; found in North America, South America, Mediterranean countries, Australia, and on some Pacific islands
Special Features:
The ‘monarch butterfly’ is the state insect of Alabama, Idaho, Illinois, Minnesota,
Texas, and the state butterfly of Vermont and West Virginia, USA.
The monarch butterflies are large, beautiful and majestic butterflies. But they are also poisonous! The ‘milkweed leaves’ they eat when in caterpillar stage are poisonous, and the adults have the poison in them, too. Birds and other predators, such as lizards,leave them alone because of the bright colours on their wings, which tell them that they are distasteful and poisonous!
The monarch butterflies are noted for their annual migration (= travelling from the native place to a distant place depending on the weather conditions), travelling a distance of 2,000 miles in large swarms!
<<< Back to List M —- Next … mongoose >>>
Author: B C Kumar
Mr. Kumar, an English language teacher, having taught in many countries around the world including Ethiopia and Oman shares this English Language Reference website using material that he has written and compiled during the past 20 years.
Both comments and pings are currently closed.
2 Responses to “Monarch”
[...] Back to List M —- Next … monarch [...]
[...] merino ~ midge ~ millipede ~ mink ~ minnow ~ moa ~ mocking bird ~ moggy ~ moke ~ mole ~ molluscs ~ monarch ~ mongoose ~ mongrel ~ monkey ~ monster ~ moo cow ~ moon calf ~ moose ~ mosquito ~ moth ~ [...]