WEBVTT

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[Upbeat jingle plays]

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First, the butterfly starts as a very small egg

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laid on the leaf of a milkweed plant.

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About 4 days later a caterpillar is hatched and goes straight to work

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eating milkweed in order to grow.

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For 2 weeks the caterpillar eats and eats

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then it shimmies, shakes and sheds its skin twice as it continues to grow.

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Once fully grown the caterpillar attaches itself to a twig or leaf

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then it begins the process of metamorphosis.

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Unlike a silkworm that spins a cocoon

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the Monarch caterpillar sheds its skin one final time

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revealing a hard shell known as the chrysalis.

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Although it may look as though nothing is happening,

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during this 10-day chrysalis phase

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major changes are taking place that result in a fully grown butterfly.

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Once the butterfly emerges from its chrysalis,

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it only lives for a few months.

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This gives it just enough time to fly, mate and produce another egg.

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The entire cycle from egg to adult takes about 30 days.

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And that's the life cycle of the Monarch caterpillar.