Viceroy Butterfly vs. Monarch

Coloring

• Both the viceroy and the monarch butterfly are dark orange with black veins. A row of white spots edge the wings. In fact, the color and pattern of the viceroy mimics the monarch butterfly's exactly except for a black horizontal stripe that crosses the bottom of its back wings. In the natural world, bright orange coloring is often a warning to predators that the creature displaying the colors is toxic.

Mullerian Mimicry

• The monarch caterpillar, as well as the adult butterfly, primarily feeds on milkweed, which contains alkaloid. The alkaloid makes it taste horrible and is slightly toxic to predators. A bird who eats a couple of monarchs may vomit. One who eats many may die. The viceroy mimics the coloring of the more toxic monarch, but viceroys are actually unpalatable to predators as well. This is known as "Mullerian mimicry," in which two toxic species mimic each other for the species' mutual benefit.

Range

• The viceroy can be found in most of the continental United States, southern Canada and northern Mexico. Monarchs inhabit the same territory.

Monarch Migration

• Each spring, monarchs migrate 3,000 miles from from Central Mexico to Central Canada. Viceroys, on the other hand, do not migrate.

Larvae and Pupae

• As caterpillars (larvae), the monarchs feeds only on milkweed, but viceroys eat poplar or willow trees. Whereas the monarch caterpillar is white, black and yellow, the viceroy is brown or olive green with a white spot on its back. The pupae (chrysalis) of the monarch is green and resembles a young leaf. The chrysalis of the viceroy is brown or cream colored, resembling a dead leaf.