Download Even though the Monarch Butterflies are small creatures, they do

125 – Monarch - a
When looking at creatures whose design, habits and/or migrations are
unexplainable without the consideration of a careful and wise Creator, we should
not leave out the Monarch Butterfly. Even though Monarch Butterflies are small
creatures, they do phenomenal things. First, they develop from tiny eggs, to a
caterpillar, become chrysalis, and finally transform into beautiful butterflies. They
migrate, traveling great distances to winter in temperate climates. Amazingly, no
one butterfly makes the entire round-trip journey. During winter the butterflies do
not reproduce, but in spring return to summer homes, breeding along the way. And
yet somehow their offspring know to return to the starting point. Female butterflies
begin the cycle when one small, pin head sized, white egg is laid underneath the
leaf of a milkweed plant - a plant that is poisonous to most creatures. The female
Monarch lays about 400 eggs on the underside of separate leaves of milkweed
plants. It takes the little yellow eggs about two weeks to develop. At the end of
about two weeks, the eggs start to change colors from yellow to light gray.
Eventually, the caterpillar's head is visible through its eggshell. Inside the egg the
caterpillar draws upon the yolk material inside the egg for nutrition. After three to
five days, it eats a hole in the egg case and emerges onto the leaf surface.
At this stage, the caterpillar is about 1/10 of an inch long. Nine chocolate-colored
rings used for respiration, called "spiracles", encircle its grayish body; it has a
black head, three pairs of front true legs with claws, and five pairs of prolegs
extending backwards. The caterpillar usually eats more of its egg case, and then the
milkweed leaf. Rapid growth leads to four or five sheddings of its external skin.
On the very first day of life, it consumes its own weight in food. An adult
caterpillar's size is about 2 inches long with a weight of about 2,700 times more
than when it hatched. When it reaches this size, it has yellow, white, and black
stripes on its body. Then, when preparing to pupate, they become very restless, and
some of them leave the milkweed plants that have been their homes since they
were eggs. They look for a safe place to undergo their transformation, usually
underneath a twig or leaf, it then uses a special gland in its mouth to weave a small
silk button, and attaches its tail end to the lump. Then it hangs upside down in the
shape of a "J". About 12 hours pass, and it begins to move, forcing the skin to split
open. It wriggles for up to five hours to shed its skin for the fifth and last time. It is
slowly changing shape and color. This is known as "chrysalis," which is the Greek
word for "golden." Inside this chrysalis, wonderful and unexplainable things are
happening. We’ll talk about these next time. Suffice it to say that this analogy to
resurrection lays before us timely thoughts of wonder and thanks. For we will all
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be changed, transformed, mysteriously, as described by Paul in Philippians 3,
transformed from our humble state, conforming to His glorious image.