What are some basic facts about monarch butterflies?

A Monarch caterpillar will gain about 2,700 times its original weight. A large monarch caterpillar can eat an entire milkweed leaf in less than 4 minutesA fifth instar Monarch caterpillar hangs upside down in a 'J'. It spins a silk button to hang from, rests for about 10-12 hours, and then sheds its skin for the final time. The pupa stops wriggling and the outside skin hardens into a protective covering that will protect the newly forming butterfly inside.Monarch butterflies fly 2,000 miles or more to the cool moist Oyamel fir forests in central Mexico. They do this to escape the coming cold, snowy weather. There they hang out with millions of other Monarchs and wait out the winter. They then start to migrate north by the end of March in search of milkweed to lay their eggs on in the southern parts of the United States.