Life Cycle of a Monarch Butterfly

How long long do they live ?

This is a complicated question because it has two seasons of life below find a month to month view. is a calendar view. 

February to March : Monarchs hibernate here in Southern California and Mexico and February and March is when they wake up, and start the search for their new mate. Once they mate then they take flight north to lay their eggs. Then their life cycle is complete. They have lasted through the Winter just to do this for us.

March and April : The first Monarch's are born and start the life cycle through the rest of the
months. It repeats the same cycle from May/June to July/August then in


September and October : The last (4th) generation is born from egg to caterpillar to chrysalis then butterfly.  The difference with the 4th generation is these have a longer life cycle. It Migrates south and lives 6 to 8 months in Mexico or here in Southern California. Then the whole cycle begins again in February and March of the following Spring when they lay their eggs.