Danaus plexippus Insect Tropical Milkweed Butterfly

Danaus plexippus one wing lenght cm 3.5-4 Insect Tropical Milkweed Butterfly.
Common name: The Monarch Butterfly, or The Monarch.
Syn. Papilio plexippus, Danaus archippus, Danaus menippe, Anosia plexippus.

The Monarch (Danaus plexippus (Linnaeus, 1758)) is a butterfly of the Nymphalidae family, native to America. It is probably the best known butterfly in all of North America. The monarch is the '"National Insect" of the states of Alabama, Idaho, Illinois and Texas, and "National Butterfly" in Minnesota, Vermont and West Virginia. In 1989 he was named "National Insect" United States of America and "insect national" of Canada.
The name "monarch" is thought to be given in honor of William III of England (since the butterfly's primary color is identical to that of the coat of arms of the Prince of Orange, a secondary title of William III). The monarch was originally described by Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of Systema Naturae and was placed in the genus Papilio. In 1780 it was placed in a new genus, the Danaus, from Danae, on which Zeus descended like a shower of gold. In 2009, monarchs were raised on the International Space Station and successfully emerged from pupae located in the station's commercial generic bioprocessing apparatus.