On yesterday's lunch walk, we found this poor Monarch butterfly. We said a prayer for it's fragile soul after exclaiming over its beauty. Note the symmetry of the rectangular patches and the spots on the body itself. According to my friend John C, the double layer of white dots along the edge differentiate it from the Viceroy butterfly, which looks similar but has only one row of white spots. He also explained that the Monarch's feed on milkweed and taste bitter to the birds, whereas the Viceroy's feast on sweeter meals, providing a more tempting treat to their aviary adversaries!
Thanks to Linda Slade for permission to use the photos.
4 comments:
Oh -- how lovely! There have been quite a few monarchs this year. I've never seen so many around here. Great shots!
Thanks, SW!!! It was really cool seeing it frozen like that - not moving. Sad, but interesting to examine it's beautiful colors...
Nice.
Thanks, Steve. ;o)
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