How Many Eggs Does a Monarch Butterfly Lay?
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This female monarch was captured in Arkansas in March. She had probably come from Mexico, which is over 1,000 miles.
By March, she had been alive for a long time! She had survived her fall migration to Mexico, the 5-month winter (including the big storm of January 2002), and also her 1,000 spring migration.
This monarch spent the last days of her life in Jim Edson's lab, laying eggs for the next generation. How many eggs did she lay?
Egg
Count Cumulative Total (by date) |
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| As of this Date | Total # Eggs Laid |
Jim
Edson's Comments |
#
Eggs Laid Today |
| 27 March |
? |
Captured in Monticello, Arkansas. Nobody knows how many eggs she'd laid before she reached Arkansas. | |
| 3 April |
80 |
She is doing well and is still laying. | |
| 9 April |
211 |
Everybody is doing well here. The female has laid 211 eggs as of this afternoon. Some of the caterpillars went to live in my granddaughter's kindergarten class today. They enjoyed seeing the little mother in person and on the Journey North webpage. | |
| 11 April |
229 |
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| 12 April |
245 |
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| 13 April |
252 |
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| 14 April |
256 |
Things are going fine for me, but the female went to butterfly heaven the afternoon of April 14th. She had started slowing down on the egg production towards the end of the week. On the 11th she was up to 229, the 12th - 245, 13th - 252, and 14th she finished with a grand total of 256. | |
Try This!
- How many eggs did Dr. Edson's monarch lay each day? (Fill in chart above.)
- How many eggs do you think she will lay in total?
- How long do you think she will live?
- What is the average number of egg she has laid per day?
- Graph your results, then describe what you see. Describe how her egg-laying behavior changed over time.
