Also, they can fly 50 miles a day and soar to altitudes of over 9,000 feet. Furthermore, they migrate thousands of miles in huge clouds of butterflies and congregate by the hundreds of thousands in groves of trees. Finally, they migrate to and from places they have never been before. Their ability to survive is fascinating. Monarch Lifecycle Monarchs, like all other butterflies, undergo complete metamorphoses.
Monarchs belong to a group of butterflies and moths that survive on a single species of plant.
In the m onarch's case, it's the milkweed. Monarchs can be found munching on milkweed from Massachusetts to California and from Minnesota to Texas. The milkweed helps the monarch survive by toxifying the its blood. The milkweed plant contains a milky substance called latex. When the caterpillars eat the milkweed plant, their bodies become engorged with latex.