Its only business in life is to eat and grow, which it does in remarkably short time. When a suitable spot is found far from its feeding place so that parasites and predators will not find it in its vulnerable immobile chrysalis stage, it attaches itself to a silken pad that it has spun, sheds its skin, and forms an emerald shroud that it decorates with golden spots. In about a week, a totally different creature emerges. It pushes itself out of its now translucent shroud. Clumsily, like any newborn, it maneuvers itself to a perch so that it can hang its limp, watery wings free and pump them full of fluid stored in its abdomen.
Life spans vary, depending on the time of the year.
The generation that migrates to Mexico and back to the southern United States lives at least eight months. The spring and summer generations live only four to six weeks, depending on the ambient temperatures at which they develop. Situated between the principal breeding grounds in the north and the overwintering area in Mexico, Texas is perhaps the most important state in the migration. Monarchs funnel through Texas both in the fall and the spring. The Texas Monarch Watch has been following the Monarch migration for the past three years.