MONARCH BUTTERFLIES
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Movement
Body Covering
Support
Nutrition
Respiration
Circulation
Excretion
Nervous System
Reproduction(sexual)
Life Cycle
Unusual Examples
Other Notes
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MOVEMENT
 Butterflies have brilliantly colored wings. They only fly during the day. Monarchs have two pairs of wings, but they act as one.  Their wings act as one pair this because there are long bristles on their hindwings that catch on hooks on the bottom of the forewing.

 Butterflies have 6 legs (3 pairs).
Butterflies taste with their feet! That's how they find flower nectar and the best plants to lay their eggs.
 "Brush-footed" butterflies (mourning cloak, painted lady, monarch) look like they have only 4 legs. The two front legs are small
and covered with small hairs. They hold these legs up by their head.

Wings

A butterfly has a pair of front wings and a pair of back wings. A network of veins runs through the wings. The veins are mainly filled with air and serve as wing supports. The wings are stiff near the front edges and at the bases. The outer margins of the wings, however, are flexible. They bend when flapped in flight. This bending pushes the air backward and moves the butterfly forward. The front margins of the wings give the insect "lift" as it flies forward.

Butterflies and moths cannot fly if their body temperature is less than about 86 degrees F (30 degrees C). At lower air temperatures, they must "warm up" their flight muscles either by sunning their bodies or by shivering their wings. The flight muscles then absorb enough heat to make flight possible.

The size of a butterfly's body and wings determines how the insect flies. For example, milkweed butterflies and swallowtails have small, lightweight bodies and large wings. These butterflies can fly by beating their wings slowly. They are excellent gliders and can fly great distances. On the other hand, skippers have large, heavy bodies and small, pointed wings. They must beat their wings rapidly to stay aloft. Skippers do not soar or glide, but they can fly swiftly for short distances.

A butterfly's wings are covered with tiny, flat scales that overlap. The scales provide color and form beautiful patterns. Some scales contain pigment (coloring matter). Colors produced by pigment include black, brown, red, white, and yellow. Other kinds of scales produce color by reflecting light from their surfaces. Shiny, metallic colors -- for example, blue and green -- are reflected colors.

Legs

Butterflies have three pairs of legs. Each leg has five main segments. Joints between the segments enable a butterfly to move its legs in various directions. Each leg ends in a pair of claws and pads. The insect uses the claws to grip surfaces. The pads have hairlike structures used as taste organs. Butterflies have weak legs and can walk only short distances.

In some species, the front legs are very short. These "brush feet" are useless for walking, but the taste organs on them are highly developed. By brushing or scraping leaves with these feet, brush-footed butterflies can determine whether particular plants are good sources of food or suitable places on which to lay eggs.

The abdomen chiefly contains a butterfly's reproductive organs. It also has organs for digesting food and for getting rid of waste products.