Monarch Butterfly

The monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus, is Texas's official state insect. The Texas Legislature designated it in 1995.

Texas is not just a place monarchs visit. The state sits directly on the migration path monarchs use every spring and fall between the northern United States and their overwintering grounds in Mexico.

A monarch has bright orange wings crossed by thick black veins, with a black border dotted with two rows of small white spots. Males have a small black scent patch on each hind wing that females lack.

Adult monarchs have a wingspan of about 3.5 to 4 inches, one of the larger butterflies found in Texas.

Monarch caterpillars are banded in white, yellow, and black, and feed only on milkweed. That single food source is why milkweed plantings matter so much for the species.

The Texas Legislature named the monarch butterfly the official state insect in 1995.

Official sources confirm the designation and its year but do not give a detailed account of the selection process.

Texas lies along a narrow migratory corridor that monarch researchers often call the Texas funnel, where the shape of the state channels most of the eastern monarch population through Central Texas each year.

The fall migration moves through Texas from roughly September through November on the way to overwintering sites in central Mexico, and a spring migration passes back through the state as monarchs return north and lay eggs on emerging milkweed.

Central Texas, including the Hill Country and the San Antonio area, is one of the most reliable places in the state to see large numbers of monarchs during migration.