Monarch (Danaus plexippus)

The most famous butterfly in North America, the Monarch migrates into NC each spring, lays eggs on milkweeds (Asclepias spp.), completes its life cycle, and a new generation migrates back south in the fall. Monarchs generally first appear in April and may be seen as late as Nov or December, especially along the coast. A few may be found overwintering along the immediate southern NC coast, although this is not their normal habit of the population.

Monarch (Danaus plexippus) Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
St. Clair Co., MI
7 July 2012
Monarch (Danaus plexippus) Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
St. Clair Co., MI
7 July 2012
Monarch (Danaus plexippus) Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
St. Clair Co., MI
7 July 2012

Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
Duke Forest, Durham Co., NC
15 Oct 2018

Monarch (Danaus plexippus) Monarch (Danaus plexippus) Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
Chatham Co., NC
24 Sep 2005

Monarch (Danaus plexippus) Monarch (Danaus plexippus) Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
Duke Gardens, Durham, NC
17 Aug 2014

Monarch (Danaus plexippus) Monarch (Danaus plexippus) Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
Durham Co., NC
5 Oct 2014

Monarch (Danaus plexippus) Monarch (Danaus plexippus) Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
Durham Co., NC
13 Oct 2014

Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
Blue Ridge Pkwy, Watauga Co., NC
23 Aug 2016

Monarch (Danaus plexippus) Monarch (Danaus plexippus) Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
Big Pine Key, Monroe Co., FL
11 Feb 2015

Monarch (Danaus plexippus)

Monarchs look superficially similar to Viceroys, but the latter species has an extra black stripe going through the middle of the wings. Note also that Monarchs are larger, and they glide with their wings in a dihedral, or "V" shape, while Viceroys glide on flat wings (held straight out from the body on the same plane).

Washington Co., NC
21 June 2003

Monarch (Danaus plexippus) Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
New Hanover Co., NC
27 Aug 2005
Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
Durham Co., NC
20 Aug 2005

Monarch (Danaus plexippus) Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
Craven Co., NC
26 Aug 2007
Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
Cape Hatteras, Dare Co., NC
24 Oct 2014

Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
Pea Island NWR, Dare Co., NC
17 Oct 2019

Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
Duke Forest, Durham Co., NC
2 Oct 2018

Monarch (Danaus plexippus), mated pair
Bogue Banks, Carteret Co., NC
27 Oct 2017

Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
Bogue Banks, Carteret Co., NC
27 Oct 2017

Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
Pea Island NWR, Dare Co., NC
22 Oct 2017

Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
Pea Island NWR, Dare Co., NC
22 Oct 2017
Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
Pea Island NWR, Dare Co., NC
22 Oct 2017

Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
Duke Forest, Orange Co., NC
18 Oct 2020

Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
Jordan Lake, Chatham Co., NC
2 Oct 2011
Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
New Hanover Co., NC
2 Oct 2011

Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
Brumley Nature Preserve, Orange Co., NC
19 Sep 2023

Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
Pea Island NWR, Dare Co., NC
21 Oct 2023

Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
Moses Cone, Watauga Co., NC
6 Oct 2023

Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
Blue Ridge Pkwy, Alleghany Co., NC
24 Aug 2016
Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
Moses Cone, Watauga Co., NC
6 Oct 2023

Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
Wilkes Co., NC
23 May 2023

Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
Holly Shelter GL, Pender Co., NC
11 Apr 2023

At this date and locaation with this amount of fading, this is surely a returning migrant!


Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
Jordanelle Wetlands, UT
14 July 2014

Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
Mt. Baldy, Missoula Co., MT
2 Aug 2014
Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
Mt. Baldy, Missoula Co., MT
27 Aug 2015

Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
Muscatatuck NWR, Jackson Co., IN
27 July 2015

Monarch (Danaus plexippus) Monarch (Danaus plexippus) Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
Muscatatuck NWR, Jackson Co., IN
27 July 2015

Monarch ovipositing on Swamp Milkweed


Monarch (Danaus plexippus) Monarch (Danaus plexippus) Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
Kankakee Sands, Newton Co., IN
30 July 2015

Monarch (Danaus plexippus) Monarch (Danaus plexippus) Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
Kankakee Sands, Newton Co., IN
30 July 2015

Monarch (Danaus plexippus) Monarch (Danaus plexippus) Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
Eagle Lakes, Naples, Collier Co., FL
2 Feb 2016

Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
Naples Botanical Garden Butterfly House, Collier Co., FL
8 Mar 2017

Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
Naples Botanical Garden Butterfly House, Collier Co., FL
8 Mar 2017
Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
Matheson Hammock Park, Miami-Dade Co., FL
17 Sep 2016

Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
San Bernard NWR, Brazoria Co., TX
24 Mar 2018

Nectaring on Pyrrhopappus


Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
Brazoria NWR, Brazoria Co., TX
30 Mar 2018

Nectaring on Asclepias linearis


Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
Cozumel Island, Quintana Roo, Mexico
14 Dec 2023


Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
Murphy's Point Provincial Park, Lanark Co., Ontario
12 July 2018
Monarch (Danaus plexippus) Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
Kankakee Sands, Newton Co., IN
30 July 2015

Ovipositing on Common Milkweed


Monarch (Danaus plexippus) egg
Brazoria Co., TX
23 Mar 2018

Monarch (Danaus plexippus) Monarch (Danaus plexippus) egg
Kankakee Sands, Newton Co., IN
30 July 2015

Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
Alamance Co., NC
5 Sep 2020

3rd instar (I believe) with recently shed "skin"


Monarch (Danaus plexippus) Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
Kankakee Sands, Newton Co., IN
30 July 2015

Perhaps a second instar.


Monarch (Danaus plexippus) Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
Kankakee Sands, Newton Co., IN
30 July 2015

Perhaps a fourth instar.


Monarch caterpillar (Danaus plexippus) Monarch (Danaus plexippus) caterpillar
Dutchess Co., NY
4 Aug 2008

Monarch caterpillar (Danaus plexippus) Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
Chatham Co., NC
24 Sep 2005
Monarch caterpillar (Danaus plexippus) Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
same individual
Monarch caterpillar (Danaus plexippus) Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
On Asclepias curassavica
St. Petersburg, FL
27 Dec 2006

Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
Gatineau, Quebec
15 July 2018

Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
Lanark Co., Ontario
13 July 2018

Monarch chrysalis (Danaus plexippus) Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
Buncombe Co., NC
8 July 2006

Looks like this chrysalis fell victim to predation

Monarch (Danaus plexippus)

Monarch (Danaus plexippus) sipping nectar from its host plant, Common Milkweek (Asclepias syriaca)

Avery Co., NC
26 July 2006

Monarch (Danaus plexippus)

Monarch (Danaus plexippus) nectaring on thistle (Cirsium sp.)

Lubken Canyon, Inyo Co., CA
19 July 2008

Monarch (Danaus plexippus) Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
Chatham Co., NC
22 Sep 2013

Nectaring on Bidens



North Carolina Butterflies | North American Butterflies | Jeff's Nature Page


Created on ... June 29, 2003 | jeffpippen9@gmail.com