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Project Noah Nature School
Danaus plexippus
One of the common larger North American butterfly. Beautiful deep orange with white & yellow dots on black make it a spectacular visitor. This male shows the deeper orange but more brown tones. You can see the pheremone gland (small brown dot on rear wings). 3-1/2"-4" (7.5-10cm) wingspan.
Migration ranges from Mexico to Canada. Flower gardens and wildflowers. Females lay eggs on milkweed plants, where the latex laden sap makes the caterpillars and butterflies toxic and distateful to any potential predator. (The smaller Viceroy emulates this - protective mimicry - and although not toxic, it disuades most predators from taking the chance.)
The monarchs and tiger swallowtails which visit these lilacs at the same time show little tolerance for each other, attempting to drive each other off. This behaviour seems fairly consistent in May.
Spotted on May 20, 2012
Submitted on May 22, 2012
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