Of milkweed and butterflies

Few species spark people’s wonder and passion like the monarch butterfly. With its fiery-orange and black pattern and large wingspan, the monarch is among the most recognized of insects in North America. Its life cycle is a complex marvel involving a lengthy migration completed “relay-style” by several generations in a single year. During their summer wanderings, female monarchs lay their eggs on the leaves of milkweeds — the sole food source for their striking yellow, white, and black-striped caterpillars. Milkweeds are the essential links of the chain that connect monarch breeding populations across North America.