Wait, what is the butterfly cycle?

Good question — here’s exactly what happens after monarchs lay their eggs:

1. Egg Stage (about 3–5 days)

   • The monarch butterfly lays a tiny, cream-colored egg directly on a milkweed leaf.

   • After a few days, the egg hatches into a tiny caterpillar (larva).

2. Caterpillar (Larva) Stage (about 10–14 days)

   • The baby caterpillar’s first meal is often its own eggshell (it’s packed with protein).

   • Then it eats milkweed leaves constantly — it needs to grow fast!

   • It will shed its skin (molt) about five times as it gets bigger.

3. Chrysalis (Pupa) Stage (about 10–14 days)

   • Once the caterpillar is full-sized, it finds a safe spot, hangs upside down in a “J” shape, and spins itself into a green chrysalis (also called a pupa).

   • Inside the chrysalis, the caterpillar’s body completely transforms into a butterfly. (It’s an amazing biological process called metamorphosis.)

4. Adult Butterfly Emerges

   • After about two weeks, a beautiful adult monarch butterfly emerges from the chrysalis.

   • It rests and dries its wings for a few hours, then flies off to start the cycle again: feeding on nectar, mating, and laying eggs if it's female.

   
   
   
   

In the spring,  the monarchs that hatched from those eggs are called the first generation — and they will keep flying further north, laying even more eggs as they go. By summer, there are several generations living across the U.S. and southern Canada!

Quick timeline after egg-laying:

Stage	Approximate Time
Egg	3–5 days
Caterpillar (Larva)	10–14 days
Chrysalis (Pupa)	10–14 days
Adult Butterfly	Lives 2–6 weeks (except fall "super generation" that migrates)