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Monarch Butterfly

A Monarch butterfly rests on a sunflower in a garden in Christchurch, New Zealand on February 04, 2023. New Zealand’s most identifiable butterfly, the monarch (Danaus plexippus) could not breed without swan plants. So most nature lovers buy swan plants from mid-Spring to the end of summer and keep them in their gardens for monarchs. The monarch butterfly has one of the best-known life cycles in the insect world. During mid-summer, the process goes from egg to adult in a month or so. The butterfly has a lifespan of 60–70 days during the summer, but this extends to 6–7 months if the butterfly pupates in autumn. In 2022, the monarch butterfly was declared endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). (Photo by Sanka Vidanagama/NurPhoto)

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