Danaus Plexippus

Danaus plexippus, the monarch butterfly, is a milkweed butterfly of the subfamily Danainae in the family Nymphalidae, also called the milkweed, common tiger, wanderer, or black-veined brown depending on region. It has an easily recognized black, orange, and white pattern and a wingspan of 8.9 to 10.2 centimeters, and is found throughout the Americas as well as in parts of Europe, Oceania, and Southeast Asia. Its eastern North American population is notable for an annual, instinctive, multigenerational migration south from the northern and central United States and southern Canada to Florida and Mexico each autumn, with a return migration north in spring; it is considered an iconic pollinator, though not an especially effective one for milkweed itself.