Q 01/05

In 2009, a batch of monarchs was reared until the adults emerged from their pupae in which unusual location?

A) A nuclear-powered navy submarine

B) An Antarctic research station

C) The International Space Station

D) A deep-sea research submersible

Answer · why

C) The International Space Station

The International Space Station hosted the Monarchs in Space project. The insects rode up on Space Shuttle Atlantis and emerged as adults in orbit.

Q 02/05

Which Mexican holiday coincides with the arrival of migrating monarchs at their winter forests each autumn?

A) Day of the Dead

B) Independence Day

C) Feast of Guadalupe

D) Three Kings' Day

Answer · why

A) Day of the Dead

Day of the Dead celebrations begin just as the eastern monarchs reach their winter forests. Folklore says the butterflies carry the souls of ancestors...

Q 03/05

Which toxic wildflower is the only plant monarch caterpillars eat, making the adults foul-tasting to birds?

A) Goldenrod

B) Milkweed

C) Foxglove

D) Thistle

Answer · why

B) Milkweed

Milkweed is the monarch's sole host plant, and females lay their eggs on it. Its loss to herbicides is one cause blamed for the butterfly's decline.

Q 04/05

Which smaller orange-and-black butterfly mimics the monarch but has an extra black line across each hindwing?

A) Red admiral

B) Gulf fritillary

C) Tiger swallowtail

D) Viceroy

Answer · why

D) Viceroy

Viceroy butterflies were long thought to be harmless copycats. They are in fact distasteful to predators too, so both species gain from the shared pat...

Q 05/05

What is the name for the hard case in which a monarch caterpillar transforms into an adult butterfly?

A) Chrysalis

B) Cocoon

C) Puparium

D) Exoskeleton

Answer · why

A) Chrysalis

Chrysalis is the word for a butterfly's bare pupa. Unlike a moth's, it is not wrapped in a cocoon.