Caterpillars That Feed on Milkweed in Missouri

Monarch Caterpillar

• The monarch caterpillar is the most common caterpillar that eats milkweed in Missouri, and these caterpillars only eat milkweed. The monarch caterpillar is easily identified, with black, white and yellow stripes in a zebra-like pattern down its entire body. The milkweed's nectar provides both the monarch caterpillars and adult monarch butterflies with a taste that is unpleasant to birds and other predators.

Queen Caterpillar

• The monarch caterpillar is a member of the Danainae family, but there are many other caterpillar species in the Danainae that also feed on milkweed. Four are found in North America: the queen butterfly, the soldier butterfly, the monarch and the tropical milkweed butterfly, but only the monarch and queen butterfly are found in Missouri, and therefore their caterpillars are too. Danainae butterflies are also called milkweed butterflies.

Tussock Moth Caterpillar

• The tussock moth caterpillar is another species of caterpillar that feeds on milkweed in Missouri. In the late summer, tussock moth caterpillars can be found feeding on milkweed in clusters of 10 or more. They can be identified by their long, fluffy silver or orange hairs and black tufts of hair by their head and backside.

Woolly Bear Caterpillar

• The woolly bear caterpillar is a large, very furry caterpillar with black on the ends of its body and red in the middle. It is sometimes attacked by parasitic flies, which lay eggs in them. These caterpillars will sometimes eat milkweed because the alkaloid compounds in milkweed can kill the eggs. Woolly bear caterpillars are found in Missouri.