Unnamed spotting

Thank you for clarifying the differences. I went by the three dots on inside of the top wing (guess that's not so relevant).

Beautiful!

Check out the similarity between the Monarch and Viceroy; they are very very close... but... the Viceroy has that line across the rear wings- the Monarch doesn't! A very common ID error.

The monarch is toxic to birds (gets the toxins from the milkweed the caterpillars eat), but the Viceroy isn't. It mimics the Monarch so the birds won't eat it.

Monarch:
http://bugguide.net/index.php?q=search&a...

Viceroy:
http://bugguide.net/index.php?q=search&a...

This is definitely a Viceroy. The black line through the wings is the identifier. Male and female monarchs do not have this continuous line. Male monarch have small black scent marks their hind wings, female monarchs do not.

thanks for that, we have thousands here, I guess they are gathering for the fall migration