Insects are the Rodney Dangerfields of conservation—they don’t get no respect. As a result, invertebrate conservation (including that of insects) tends to be significantly underfunded and ignored. It doesn’t help that a majority of people think of most insects as just “bugs”—pests that would best be exterminated. One exception to this rule is Danaus plexippus—the monarch butterfly. Despite being invertebrates, monarchs rank up there with eagles and whales, manatees and wolves as emblems of conservation and the parts of nature that we love. Most people can identify monarch caterpillars, know that they feed on milkweeds, and certainly recognize the adults—not something they can say about any other lepidopteran.
The first grade class at University Lake School—a small, private school in Hartland, Wisconsin—has, for many years, learned about and acted out the monarch life cycle and migration. We will go through the activity, providing background information about these iconic invertebrates as well as giving out materials so participants can easily have their students become graceful monarchs!
