Butterflies on display at Hurley Library

HURLEY - Children migrated to Hurley Public Library Wednesday afternoon to learn about monarch butterflies.

Standing in front of a container of several butterflies, North Lakeland Discovery Center Naturalist Licia Johnson asked them how to recognize a monarch butterfly. A child said they are big and have orange wings.

She said butterflies have wings that help them fly, antennas that help them sense their surroundings, eyes to let them see and feet to help them taste.

A monarch's eyeballs consist of 1,000 "little lenses" that help them see differently than humans, Johnson said.

While experiencing metamorphosis, Johnson said monarch butterflies change shape throughout their life cycle.

She said they go through four stages of life - an egg, a caterpillar, a chrysalis and finally a butterfly.

Johnson said adult butterflies like to lay eggs on milk weed plants because the plant is a source of food for caterpillars after they hatch.

One child said monarch caterpillars have a black, yellow and white stripes. Johnson said caterpillars shed their skin and get bigger until they're almost 2 inches long.

"If you grew that fast in two weeks, you'd be the size of a school bus," Johnson said.

She said the caterpillar stage of life lasts two weeks. After that, the caterpillar hangs upside down and turns into a chrysalis.

"The chrysalis is a beautiful green color with shinny gold dots," she said.

Johnson said the chrysalis stage of life also lasts two weeks, before the butterfly emerges.

Monarch butterflies are the only butterflies that migrates, Johnson said.

To experience monarch butterfly migration, the children made their way through an obstacle course of items signifying dangers like electrical wires, hazardous chemicals and cats, which monarch butterflies face while flying south. Afterwards, children did arts and crafts.