Andrew Trundlewagon's photos with the keyword: Limenitis archippus

viceroy DSC 7717 edited

05 Oct 2022 15 10 199
A viceroy butterfly (Limenitis archippus). It looks very similar to the better-known Monarch butterfly, both advertising to predators that they taste bad. Viceroys are smaller than Monarchs with a strong black line through the hind wings, and, unlike Monarchs, they do not migrate.

viceroy-DSC 5180

28 Jul 2013 3 1 445
The bright orange viceroy butterfly (Limenitis archippus) resembles the larger Monarch butterfly. The caterpillars of the viceroy feed on plants in the willow family and accumulate salicylic acid (similar to aspirin). This makes them bitter and unpalatable to predators. Their similarity with the equally orange and black Monarch butterfly, which is also poisonous is an example of Müllerian mimicry which (from Wikipedia) “is a natural phenomenon in which two or more poisonous species, that may or may not be closely related and share one or more common predators, have come to mimic each other's warning signals”. Fortunately, I am not planning to eat butterflies so I can just enjoy their beauty.