One of These Things is not Like the Other!

At first glance this may appear to be two pictures of monarch butterflies. However these are actually pictures of two different butterfly species. In fact these two species are not even in the same genus. The photo above is of a viceroy butterfly, Genus Lemenitis, while the one below is a monarch, Genus Danaus.

Besides the fact that they look similar these two butterflies have very little in common. Both are members of the Nymphalidae , or brushfoot, family, but many species are brushfoot butterflies. The monarch butterfly is what is commonly referred to as a milkweed butterfly. These are species that eat milkweed during their larval stage making them toxic to many predators. Some people believe that the viceroy may be avoided by predators because of its resemblance to the monarch. However it has been proven that the viceroy may itself possess acids that make them taste bitter, which helps keep them from being eaten. Perhaps they are both orange as a warning to anything that is hungry and does not know any better.  

Viceroy

At first glance this may appear to be a photo of a monarch butterfly, however if you look closely you may notice a subtle difference. This is a viceroy butterfly. It is believed that they look like the monarch is a form of a defense mechanism. Because they eat the toxic milkweed plant as a caterpillar monarchs are either distasteful, at the least, or toxic to most predators. By looking similar to a monarch the viceroy may avoid encounters with predators that are wary of monarchs. The main way to tell the difference in the field is by size, the viceroy is noticeably smaller then the monarch, and the postmedian band that runs across the hindwing of the viceroy

Natural Mimic

At first glance many people would think that this is a monarch but this is actually a viceroy butterfly. The viceroy is in the same family as the Monarch, Nymphalidae or brushfoots, but it is in a different subfamily Limenitidinae, which includes the admirals.

Viceroys are smaller then monarchs but the real give away is the black line running through the hind wing, which monarchs do not have. It is believed that the similar coloration helps to fool some predators that avoid eating monarchs because they are toxic because of the milkweed that they eat as a caterpillar. Viceroy caterpillars do not eat milkweed, they mostly feed on tree leaves such as willow, aspen, apple, and cherry, so they are not toxic but it is not necessary to be toxic if you look like another butterfly that is.

Signs of Spring and Viceroy Butterflies.

The month of April has been kind of tough here in Minnesota this year. We have not had snow or cold weather, like is certainly possible here in the frozen north, in fact this year has been quite the opposite with many days already making it up into the 70s. The problem is that even though it feels like the end of May, with warm sunny days, green grass, and leaves on all of the trees it is still just April. So each day I go out expecting to fnd warblers or dragonflies or any of the other things that I like to photograph in May and June but they are not here yet it is just too early.

Things are picking up though. I have spotted a few yellow rump warblers flittering about. Last week I spotted my first dragons of the year, green darners, and I have spotted a couple of tiger swallowtail flying by. These signs mean that soon I will have more subjects to photograph then I know what to do with. Possibly viceroy butterflies like in these pics that I photographed last summer at Eagle Bluff in southern Minnesota. Is anyone else getting impatient like I am?

Butterflies on the Sand

Most of the time when you think of butterfly habitat you envision open fields full of blooming wild flowers or ornate flower gardens. These are good places to look for butterflies but another place to look, that most people do not think of, is the shore line of lakes, rivers and streams. Like most living things butterflies need to ingest minerals and one way to do this is to suck up the dissolved minerals in wet sand. In this first pic a male cabbage white is partaking of minerals from the sand. We can tell that it is a male because it has a single spot on the fore wing, females have two spots.
The eastern tailed-blue can be identified by the small "hair-like" tail that protrudes from the hind wing. The only other member of the blue family that has a tail is the western tailed-blue. To distinguish between the eastern and western varieties of tailed-blue look for the orange spots near the tail on the hind wing. If the blue has two orange spots then it is an eastern tailed-blue if it only has a single spot then it is a western tailed-blue. While we do not see many western-tailed blue in the southeastern part of Minnesota their range does overlap in the northern part of the state and into Canada.
The viceroy butterfly is a monarch look a like, however it is easy to distinguish the difference once you know what you are looking for. First off the viceroy is typically smaller then the monarch, with a 2.5 to 3.25 inch wingspan for the viceroy and a 3.5 to 4.5 inch wingspan for the monarch. This can be difficult to judge, however, unless you are lucky enough to see them both together. The easy way to tell the difference is to look at the hind wing. On the viceroy there is a line running across the hind wing which is not present in the monarch. All of these butterflies where photographed at Afton State Park in September of 2008.

Monarch vs Vicroy

Even though most butterflies only live in their adult state for a matter of weeks or sometimes months many butterflies have defense mechanisms which help them to live as long as they possibly can.For most monarch butterflies life as an adult is just a few weeks in the summer, just time enough to mate, lay eggs, and pollinate some flowers along the way. Those that hatch in the late summer get to live an extended life of sorts. These are the ones that fly down to southern California or Mexico for the winter. To help them survive monarchs ingest milkweed while in their larval state. Milkweed is toxic to many predators, mostly insects and birds, and so most of them avoid monarchs.

The viceroy is a similar looking butterfly, but looks are where the similarity ends. Viceroy caterpillars do not feed on milkweed, they prefer willow leaves and other non-toxic plants and trees, and so they are not toxic. Fortunately for them, most predators have difficulty distinguishing between the two different types of butterflies and so this acts as a defense mechanism for the viceroy.

Viceroy Butterfly on Philadelphia Fleabane

It is not often that I get to cover two different memes with one post, let alone one pic, but I wanted to start posting to the Macro Monday meme since I do quite a bit of macro photography. In the future I will try and get Today's Flowers posted earlier but since I was off shooting all day I decided to combine them for this week.

At first glance you may think that this is a monarch butterfly sitting on a Philadelphia Fleabane flower but it is in fact a poser. The viceroy has very little in common with the monarch butterfly other then its coloration. The coloration is a type of camouflage. It makes it look like a monarch, which are toxic due to the milkweed that the monarch caterpillar eats, and thus they are typically avoided by most predators.

Going Buggy at Afton State Park

Well this weekend turned out to be very nice weather wise here in Minnesota. Both days turned out to be sunny with mostly clear skies. The temps on both days got up into the mid sixties which is pretty good for late October. This afternoon while I was out enjoying the weather I spotted quite a few meadowhawks and a few large darners still lingering. I also spotted a monarch, most of them flew south weeks ago, as well as a sulfur and a couple of cabbage whites.
Back on September sixth there were quite a few butterflies around when I visited Afton State Park. Afton is located on the St Croix River a little ways north of where the St Croix joins with the Mississippi.
The reason that I went to Afton was to try and find some of the rare clubtail dragonflies that are only found around the St Croix River in Minnesota. but while searching for dragons I came across quite a few butterflies. Although the cabbage white is a common through out most of North America it is not actually a native to the continent. It was accidentally introduced from Europe into Canada in the 1860s. You can tell that this is a male cabbage white because it only has a single spot on the fore wing, females have two spots.

I also found a fairly good numbers of eastern tailed-blue butterflies. These are similar in size to the endangered Karner blue but they are much more common and are easily identified by the small tendril or tail projecting from the hind wing. The only other blue in our area with a tail is the western tailed-blue. You can tell the difference because the eastern has two or more orange spots near the tail where the western has only a single orange spot. We see a lot more eastern tailed-blue.
At first glance I thought this next butterfly was a monarch but when I was able to examine it more closely I realised that it was a monarch copycat.
The viceroy resembles the monarch, which is toxic to most predators because of the milkweed it eats when it is a caterpillar, this helps it to avoid predators. Viceroys are noticeably smaller then monarchs and have a stripe running across the hind wing that the monarch does not have.
I did find one dragon that appears to be a clubtail. Unfortunately I was only able to get off a couple of quick shots before it flew off across the water where I could not follow. It was not a very great picture but I think that it may be a russet-tipped clubtail, possibly one that only recently emerged. There is only one record of Russet-tipped clubtails in Minnesota and that was in Houston County on the far south east tip of the state, according Odonata Central. Hopefully this information is up to date and correct, if not I am sure that Hap will let me know. I have also found other dragons that I believe were russet-tipped clubtails down at Carpenter Nature Center, which is also on the St Croix River a little south of Afton. I plan to make a photo set and send it to the Minnesota Odonata Survey Project. If I am correct with my identification,hopefully they will be able to tell from the photos, then perhaps the russet-tipped clubtail will get added to the species checklist for Washington County.

Butterflies at Purgatory Creek

I have decided to make a slight change in how I do things here at Ecobirder. Since I began I have tried to post things in chronological order but with the abundance of material that I currently have to share I have decided to mix things up a bit. I am hoping that by mixing up my content it will make things more interesting for you my readers. So let's begin with some butterflies that I photographed at Purgatory Creek on July 23rd. The monarch butterfly is probably the most recognized butterfly in the world. Monarchs are found through out much of North and South America as well as New Zealand, Australia, and some parts of Europe. Their bright orange wings are toxic to many predators, due to the milkweed that they eat as caterpillars and so they are usually not bothered.
Do you notice something different about this monarch? See the black stripe running vertically down the wing? That stripe indicates that this is not really a monarch. Instead it a Viceroy.
Viceroys may look like monarchs but they are pretty different. Both are in the family Nymphalidae, brushfoots, but the viceroy is in the Limenitidinae or admirals subfamily while the monarch is the the subfamily Danainae. The Danainae subfamily consists of the butterflies which eat milkweed while in their larval state. The viceroy larva does not eat milkweed, it eats the leaves of willows, aspen, apple, cherry and plum, so it is not toxic like the monarch. However due to its close resemblance it is often over looked by predators.

Necedah Viceroy

While we were out at Necedah looking for Karner blue butterflies we spotted this butterfly perched on a bush.
I wasn't planning to stop to photograph it, since monarchs are pretty common, but then a bird flew across the road so we stopped to see what it was.
We never did get a good look at the bird, let alone a pic, but while we were stopped I decided to take a shot of the butterfly. As I got a better look at it through the view finder I realized that this was a viceroy butterfly and not a monarch.
The viceroy looks similar to the monarch except that it is typically smaller and has a black postmedian band which crosses the hindwing, look at the three pictures above in comparison to the monarch pictured below.
It is believed that its similarity to the monarch, in looks, is a type of a defense mechanism for the viceroy. Because the monarch feeds on the milkweed plant, while in its larval state, it is very distasteful to most predators. Birds who try to eat a monarch will usually avoid them after the experience. Since the viceroy looks similar in appearance often times it will also be avoided even though it does not feed on milkweed.