PHOTO: Lynn M. Rosenblatt, Photographer and Author
Alabama State Insect
Alabama designated the monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) as the official state insect in 1989. Seven states have adopted the monarch butterfly as an official symbol. Alabama also recognizes an official agricultural insect (queen honeybee) and an official state butterfly and mascot (eastern tiger swallowtail). Alabama State Insect
The migratory monarch is a native butterfly well-known to Alabama. Both caterpillar and adult butterfly are brilliant in color as a warning (the Monarch butterfly ingests toxins from the milkweed plant which are poisonous to predators).
PHOTO: David Levinson
Idaho State Insect
The Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus) was designated the official state insect of Idaho in1992, thanks to the efforts of 4th grade students at Boise’s Cole Elementary School (with help from their teacher). Idaho State Insect
Both the caterpillar and adult monarch butterfly are brilliant in color as a warning to predators – the monarch ingests toxins from the milkweed plant which are poisonous.
Illinois State Insect
Illinois designated the iconic monarch butterfly as the official state insect in 1975, the result of lobbying by Illinois schoolchildren (a third grader from Decatur was the first to suggest the monarch as state insect). Illinois State Insect
Monarch Butterfly Facts. Both the caterpillar and adult monarch butterfly are brilliant in color as a warning to predators – the monarch ingests toxins from the milkweed plant which are poisonous. Monarch butterfly populations are declining due to loss of habitat; listed as NF (near threatened) by the World Wildlife Fund.
PHOTO: David Bledsoe
Minnesota State Insect
Minnesota adopted the lovely monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) as the official state butterfly in 2000. The monarch was promoted by a fourth-grade class at Anderson Elementary School in Mahtomedi, MN. Minnesota State Insect
Monarch caterpillars appear to feed exclusively on milkweed, which grows throughout Minnesota. Both caterpillar and butterfly are brilliant in color as a warning because the toxins ingested from the milkweed plant are poisonous to predators. The male butterfly has small black dots on its lower wings, females do not.
Quote from Representative Harry Mares (who co-sponsored the bill with Senator Chuck Wiger): “A lot of people have an early introduction to the magical world of nature through the monarch, and as we get older it becomes a thread that takes us through science to beauty and aesthetics.”
PHOTO: David Bledsoe
Texas State Insect
Texas designated the monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) as the official state insect in 1995. In 2015 Texas adopted a second insect symbol; a state pollinator. Texas State Insect
Both the caterpillar and adult monarch butterfly are brilliant in color as a warning to predators (the monarch ingests toxins from the milkweed plant which are poisonous).
Seen soaring and gliding across the USA during the summer, monarchs make an incredible 2,500-mile migration each year to their nesting grounds in Mexico and southern California.
Monarch butterflies are threatened and being considered for protection under The U.S. Endangered Species Act (monarch populations have fallen by possibly 90 percent during the last two decades).
PHOTO: Lynn M. Rosenblatt, Photographer and Author
Vermont State Insect
Vermont designated the monarch (Danaus plexippus) as the official state butterfly in 1987 (Vermont also recognizes an official state insect). Monarch butterflies are recognized as an official symbol of seven states. Vermont State Insect
Both caterpillar and butterfly are brilliant in color as a warning (the monarch butterfly ingests toxins from the milkweed plant which make it poisonous to predators). The monarch butterfly’s annual migration is one of the great wonders of nature.
PHOTO: Jennifer E. Dacey / University of Rhode Island
West Virginia State Insect
West Virginia designated the monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) the official state butterfly in 1995. Both caterpillar and butterfly are brilliant in color as a warning – the Monarch ingests toxins from the milkweed plant which are poisonous to predators. West Virginia State Butterfly
