Monarch+Butterfly+Period+6


 * Group Members:** Gayle and Caroline


 * How Will We Work Together:**


 * Research:**

 1. Where does your animal live, and what are its characteristics? ( === Our animal lives in North America. It stops in Florida, Texas, California, Cuba. It migrates to and from Mexico depending on the season. In March, the butterflies move from Mexico (where they stay for the winter), to Southern North America, and then back down to Central Mexico at the end of the winter ( travels 80 miles a day, 4,000 mile trip). They migrate to Mexico in the winter to roost in the oyamel fir trees. They travel to America to lay there eggs on milkweed ( only found in the USA) They migrate together, stopping in trees to rest. ===  Locate your animal’s habitat (Where does it live? Does it migrate?) Include all subspecies or varieties of your animal-

 Papilionidae ( swallow tail)- Large and colorful wings, tail wings look like they have heads. Powerful fliers.
=== Pieridae ( orangetips) Body and wings are mostly white, yellow, or orange. Bright colors are formed by waste products that build up on their scales. ===

 And… Nymphalidae, and hesperiidae


Identify at least 10 characteristics that will give an in-depth, accurate description of your animal-


= = ** 1.) Reddish-orange wings, with a black border and white spots along the edges.  ** **  2.) As a caterpillar, it eats milkweed plant, which makes it poisonous and awlful-tasting to its predators. ** ** 3.) During the winter, it lives perched in trees ( high), in the spring and summer it lives in fields of milkweed.   ** **  4.) Found in North, Central, and South America   ** ** 5.) The Butterfly has very little preditors, the only animal that dares to eat it are wasps and flies because they have developed a resistances to the toxins   ** **  6.) It breeds 4-5 times a year on the underside of the milkweed. They lay 400 eggs each time. ** ** 7.) They may live 4-6 weeks depending on the temperature they are born into.  ** **  8.) They have no lungs or noses so they breath through little openings on the side called spiracles. ** <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">** 9.) They smell with antenas on the bottom of their feet, and taste with there tounges, which is like a straw.  ** <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">**  10.) They communicate   by using "pheromones", or chemical signals. ** <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"> 2. Where and why is your animal endangered? **Our animal is endangered in Central, South, and North America. It is endangered because of illegal logging in Central America. It is also endangered because many farmers kill the milkweed because they find it to trouble while farming. Also, much of farming has converted to housing developments**

Locate where it is endangered (might not be endangered in all its habitats) **It is endangered in Central and North America**

Identify the factors, environmental and/or anthropogenic (caused by man) that cause it to be endangered. **It is anthropogenically endangered because its homes are either being chopped up or killed.**

Provide statistics and other facts related to its endangerment- **1,800 waystations in the United States. We would need to plant 10000 waystations a year to make up for the habitat loss. the Monarch Butterfly population is down 75%, 2% of the original oynamel forest remain.**

3. Where is your animal in captivity and/or conserved?- Locate at least two zoos and/or conservation centers where the animal is held.- **The Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, Mexico. Highland Habitat for Discovery in Ephrata, Pennsylvania. Monarch Butterfly Regional Forum, Mexico Pismo Monarch Grove,and the San Diego Zoo**. **Also, the Natural bridges state beach, and The live Monarch Foundation.**

4. What is being done to restore your animal’s populations? Where is it being done? Locate where research is done on your animal and where efforts are underway to conserve its population (Note: It may be that this is done at the same location(s) you identified in #3) Identify the experts, leaders, and/or groups guiding the conservation

~ **there are many things that are being done to conserve the Monarch butterfly. Cutting down the Monarchs winter home, the oynamel tree is now illegal. Some monarchs wear tags so we can learn about their travel patterns..The Michoacan Reforestation Fund in Mexico have already planted 1,125,000 oyamel trees on 450 acres. this is the area around the Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary Forest in Michoacan, Mexico. This will help the butterflies because it will help them have a habitat in the winter. At the San Diego zoo, they send guide cards to communities with the monarch butterfly region. Tagging, to follow the Monarch Butterfly Migration. Live Monarch helps to support th population by- suppling people with a packet that contains the nutrients to grow a milkweed plant. They also supply people with a kit on how to grow and take care of a Monarch butterfly. Besides this, they offer information on their website about how you cam help to preserve the animals habitat in your own environment.** **In California at the Natural Bridges state beach, they are helping the monarchs by giving them a secure winter home.This is the only state preservation.**

Outline any research and efforts to conserve the population


 * Photos**



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milkweed in bloom
 * Videos**

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caroline and Gayle bibliography

<span style="font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; color: rgb(255, 15, 18)">come see our Monarch Butterfly Google Earth tour!