The Collaborative International Dictionary
monarch butterfly \mon"arch but"ter*fly\, n. (Zo["o]l.) A very large red and black butterfly ( Danais Plexippus) having striking orange-brown wings with black veins in a reticulated pattern; -- called also milkweed butterfly and monarch. Its larvae feed on the leaves of the milkweed.
Monarch \Mon"arch\, n. [F. monarque, L. monarcha, fr. Gr. ?, ?; mo`nos alone + ? to be first, rule, govern. See Archi-.]
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A sole or supreme ruler; a sovereign; the highest ruler; an emperor, king, queen, prince, or chief.
He who reigns Monarch in heaven, . . . upheld by old repute.
--Milton. One superior to all others of the same kind; as, an oak is called the monarch of the forest.
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A patron deity or presiding genius.
Come, thou, monarch of the vine, Plumpy Bacchus.
--Shak. (Zo["o]l.) A very large red and black butterfly ( Danais Plexippus); -- called also milkweed butterfly and monarch butterfly.
WordNet
n. large migratory American butterfly having deep orange wings with black and white markings; the larvae feed on milkweed [syn: monarch, milkweed butterfly, Danaus plexippus]
Wikipedia
The monarch butterfly or simply monarch (Danaus plexippus) is a milkweed butterfly ( subfamily Danainae) in the family Nymphalidae. Other common names depending on region include milkweed, common tiger, wanderer, and black veined brown. It may be the most familiar North American butterfly, and is considered an iconic pollinator species. Its wings feature an easily recognizable black, orange, and white pattern, with a wingspan of The viceroy butterfly is similar in color and pattern, but is markedly smaller and has an extra black stripe across each hind wing.
The eastern North American monarch population is notable for its annual southward late-summer/autumn migration from the United States and southern Canada to Mexico. During the fall migration, monarchs cover thousands of miles, with a corresponding multi-generational return north. The western North American population of monarchs west of the Rocky Mountains often migrates to sites in California but has been found in overwintering Mexican sites as well. Monarchs were transported to the International Space Station and were bred there.
After a ten-fold drop in the population of the eastern monarch butterfly population over the last decade, a 2016 study predicted an 11%–57% probability that this population will go quasi-extinct over the next 20 years.
Usage examples of "monarch butterfly".
Then if anything-western diamondback rattler or monarch butterfly-woke him suddenly, he'd jump right out from under his rider.
The corporate logo of a monarch butterfly leaving its cocoon, he thought, would look just great on the rudder.
But by accident, it also happened to damage Monarch butterfly caterpillars too.
He climbed above the grassy shelf toward the dark line of trees, following a monarch butterfly that had fluttered past him.
Upon closer observation, the two wings, which had seemed attached to each other a moment before, had a small bulge between them, as unnoticeable as the body of a monarch butterfly or a Carnuiin round beetle.
The lamp with a bubble-thin shade the color of a monarch butterfly's wing was Venerian ceramic.
The pale skin of her face was marked with finely etched tattoos around her eyes, nose, and mouth, forming the wings of a monarch butterfly.
Once, showing him how to use the brush correctly, she touched his face, and he remembered lying all one day in a summer meadow, watching a Monarch butterfly being born.
Also safe in bed for the night, Jackie Sattering told his pa how he'd caught a monarch butterfly in right field.
A monarch butterfly bobbed toward us and settled on the barrel of the shotgun that leaned against the steps to the cabin.
I shielded my eyes and watched a black-and-gold monarch butterfly.