The Life Cycle of the Monarch Caterpillar from ProjectExplorer.org

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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.

Title:: The Life Cycle of the Monarch Caterpillar from ProjectExplorer.org
Description:: A kid-friendly video describing the lifecycle of the Monarch caterpillar. Narrated and written by Gabrielle Pasternak. Music courtesy of Jingle Punks.

The ProjectExplorer.org series was created by Jenny M. Buccos. For more on ProjectExplorer.org's children's programming visit: projectexplorer.org/me

© ProjectExplorer.org, 2011. All rights reserved.

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Video Language:: English

allaynew added a translation

English subtitles