Viceroys on Joe Pyeweed

Another Orange Jewel
When My brother and I were little, one of our favorite games was to guess at which butterfly we were seeing at a distance. Was it a monarch or a viceroy? We learned to note flight pattern differences. Monarchs flap and flutter while viceroys are more apt to glide. The latter also seemed to stay on a flower with wings spread out long enough to identify the single black streak on the viceroy’s lower wings. Because we had access to a large field, woods, brooks, marshes, and wet meadows that supported an old farm pond, we also learned that in general, monarchs liked open areas, while viceroys seemed to prefer wet meadows around seeps, brooks, and ponds. But not always! From a distance, these butterflies look exactly alike except that viceroys are smaller in size, the easiest way to identify one from a distance. The Viceroy’s wingspan is 2⅝ to three inches, while that of the Monarch is 3½ to four inches.

Here at home, I notice that monarchs and viceroys are prevalent throughout July into mid-September. I am not sure how much this has to do with food sources.
Monarchs sail around through masses of milkweed until it goes by, sip nectar from the wild bee balm, white phlox, and the old-fashioned hydrangea that is just starting to bloom. Viceroys (Limenitis Archippus) are also drawn to my spiky blue thistles, which have spread and gone wild.

Because many of my garden flowers are presently drooping from repeated deluges, some bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds have moved to the giant old-fashioned hydrangea that has just begun to bloom. Others have taken to the field that is presently bursting with goldenrod and wild asters. Because I leave most of my land wild and make it a point not to remove leaf litter or mow (I do hay around the house and field after all of the flowers have died back), I have created a year-round sanctuary for butterflies of all kinds and have an abundance of them throughout the season each year.

Sources differ on the feeding habits of adult Viceroys. Some say the food source varies seasonally, with early brood Viceroys relying on carrion, decaying fungi, aphid honeydew and animal dung, later switching to flowers such as Joe Pye Weed, asters, and goldenrods.

When I meander through a nearby lowland sanctuary, viceroys are feasting on wild clematis and Joe Pye weed, making it easy for me to photograph them with
their wings outspread.

While living in Abiquiu (Northern New Mexico) I saw what I thought were monarchs down by the river, floating through the willows one summer, and then realized they were probably viceroys because of their smaller size and general monarch scarcity. It wasn’t until one came into the yard and landed on my milkweed (which they aren’t known to gather nectar from) that I spied the crescent shaped wing stripe that also identifies this butterfly. I also noted that the ones I saw seemed to be a muted shade of orange – almost rust colored. As I recall, there weren’t that many, but I was delighted to see even a few. Some seemed attracted to my giant sunflowers. They also flocked to the lovely blue asters.

The willow family, which includes poplars, aspens and cottonwoods, is the viceroy’s primary host plant. This butterfly is apparently found in most of the continental United States, southern Canada, and as far south as Northern Mexico. Nothing is mentioned about viceroys being threatened except in savannas. It still amazes me that monarchs are viceroys are totally unrelated! I grew up believing that monarchs were toxic to most birds, so viceroys mimicked them to prevent being eaten. Now some sources suggest that both unrelated species are toxic to birds. It is information like this that keeps me grounded, trusting my own experience and citing sources as probabilities or possibilities. Good science is always evolving, ‘and experts’ come and go.

The viceroy apparently mates in the afternoon. The female lays her greenish white eggs with small protrusions on the tips of the leaves of one of the members of the willow family, often preferring the shrubbier varieties of which I have an abundance of here. The eggs (gall-like) hatch within a week. After birth, caterpillars eat their eggshells, then begin feeding on the catkins or leaves of the host plant. The young larvae sometimes construct a ball of leaf litter, dung, and silk, which dangles from the leaf they are feeding on. Depending upon location, there may be two or three generations of viceroys born each breeding season.

The caterpillars may be mottled brown or green with creamy blotches and have two knob-like horns. Caterpillars from a third brood may spend the winter rolled up in a leaf that they attach with silk to a branch, ready to emerge the following spring. The chrysalis itself is a shiny bronze. In the past couple of years, I have seen a few viceroys in early June but the majority seem most active later in the season which lasts into September.

Viceroys, like other butterflies, regulate their temperature by basking in the sun to warm up. Early – to mid-morning (depending on temperature) are ideal times to photograph them for this reason.

Every summer I look forward to the butterflies that visit here. Whenever I see a monarch – looking butterfly I pay close attention to size and try to follow the butterfly to positively identify it by the crescent stripe on its lower wings. I just have to be sure!