Where is the viceroy butterfly found?

Range. The viceroy is found in most of the continental United States and in southern Canada and northern Mexico. The viceroy is found throughout New Hampshire.

How did the viceroy butterfly get its name?

The Viceroy’s name comes from the fact that, while it is similar to the Monarch and the Queen butterflies, it is smaller, and by extension lower in rank in the British peerage. Its genus name Limenitis comes from the Latin word for marshes.

Why did viceroy butterfly copy the monarch?

When specialists began studying these butterflies, they asked questions such as, why are these animals colored similarly? They decided that the reason for the similar appearance was that the viceroy had evolved colors that mimic, or copy, the monarch colors to confuse predators and thereby protected themselves.

What butterflies copy the monarch?

Viceroy butterflies look exactly like monarchs to the untrained observer. Viceroys “mimic” monarchs in appearance. This is a strategy to avoid predation. As you know, monarch caterpillars eat milkweed.

Are viceroys toxic?

However, it has been recently discovered that Viceroys are, in fact, toxic as well, having evolved a different kind of toxin than Monarchs. So this is actually called Müllerian co-mimicry and not the Batesian mimicry as previously thought.

Are viceroys endangered?

Not extinctViceroy / Extinction status

Do viceroy butterflies taste bad?

The monarchs and viceroys are look-alike mimics all right. Their common color pattern advertises that they both have a bad taste. Viceroys and monarchs both taste bad, and they look very much alike.

Are viceroy butterflies poisonous?

Do butterflies have Willys?

Instead, they drink their food. To lap up their food, butterflies have a proboscis, which is basically a tube-shaped tongue that works like a straw. The proboscis lets them suck up their food like you would with a straw.

Is viceroy butterfly poisonous?

Are monarch poisonous?

The monarch stores a poison called cardenolides, or cardiac glycosides that it gets from the plants it eats. This poison is similar to digitalis, which can be used to help people with heart problems, but can kill people if they consume too much of it.

Are queen butterflies poisonous?

Like its close relative the Monarch, the Queen is a poisonous species of butterfly, said to be quite bitter and distasteful.

How do you spell Bentinck?

Break ‘Bentinck’ down into sounds: [BEN] + [TINK] – say it out loud and exaggerate the sounds until you can consistently produce them. Record yourself saying ‘Bentinck’ in full sentences, then watch yourself and listen.

Can butterflies bite you?

Butterflies don’t bite because they can’t. Caterpillars munch on leaves and eat voraciously with their chewing mouthparts, and some of them do bite if they feel threatened. But once they become butterflies, they only have a long, curled proboscis, which is like a soft drinking straw—their jaws are gone.

What is a blue butterfly called?

The blue morpho is among the largest butterflies in the world, with wings spanning from five to eight inches. Their vivid, iridescent blue coloring is a result of the microscopic scales on the backs of their wings, which reflect light.