The name Monarch means “king”. An adult Monarch Butterfly is about 1 ½ inches long. Its body is black with white markings. There are white spots on the head and around the wing edges. The wings are bright orange with black veins. The undersides of the wings are light orange. Male Monarchs have a black spot on the back of each hind wing.
Wings have 2 parts: a forewing and a hind wing. The wing span can be up to 4 inches across. The back edges of the wings are called “margins”. They bend to push air backward and move the butterfly forward. The stiff front edges of the wings lift the butterfly in flight. Black veins create a framework that keeps the wings stable. Female wing veins are thicker than those of males.
Monarch Butterflies come from yellow, black, and white striped caterpillars. Monarch caterpillars grow to about 2 inches in length. They have 2 tentacles that look like antennae at the front of the body, and 2 tentacles at the back.

License information: CC BY-SA 3.0
MPAA: G
Go to source: https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Wikijunior:Bugs/Monarch_butterfly