Monarch Lookalikes And How To Tell The Difference

Monarch Lookalikes and How to Tell the Difference

4/17/2018

107 Comments

"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery."- Oscar Wilde​...Or was it mimicry?

Viceroy or Monarch?

An adult monarch butterfly

An adult viceroy butterfly. Note the black line across it's hind wing, differentiating it from the monarch.

Why is it important to be able to tell the difference between the two?

1. Citizen science is only helpful if the data is accurate. Monarch populations are in decline and it is important to be able to report sightings in order to gather data on their migration cycle.
2. Planning your butterfly garden. Viceroys feed on all plants in the willow family, but the females will also deposit eggs on plums, apples and cherries. Monarchs feed and reproduce solely on Milkweed.
3. It’s fun and educational! You can impress your peers by being able to aptly identify different kinds of butterfly and also be able to share this knowledge with others to increase conservation efforts. ​

Why does the monarch taste bad to predators?

Other lookalikes

I just returned from CA and was able to see the monarchs. It is so sad to see such small numbers of a butterfly that once numbered in the 100,000 plus at the same site. I design gardens for people in CO. Every garden I install is butterfly friendly. NO PESTICIDES!!!!! I wish more companies and the public would realize we are destroying our earth. Thank you for this website as I try to explain to people the differences in butterfly ID. These photos are so clear! Thank you again.

Thank you for your interest and for reading!!

Many thanks for your stance on chemicals especially in your daily work. Where are the heros like you in California, the chemical state? I want to plant milkweed and have tried. It does not come back and does not grow well. I read where it is a danger to plant too little and thus starve any caterpillars

Very sad to see this. I try to keep milkweed in my yard which is natural, not planted. I believe I saw a few Monarchs in my yard but will have to pay more attention to the markings as opposed to the Viceroy. I hope I have Monarchs. I try but not always successful!

I have milkweeds growing wild on the farm here in pa. I could send you some. I’m not good at identity, but I think I saw 4 of them.

Any chance you know what kind of milkweed the monarchs like? I have some planted, and we are in northern coastal California

The Xerces Society is my go to group for information. I hope the link works because it lists the varieties of milkweed that grow in california. Good luck. Karen

Here is a great link. The Monarchs like any of these species listed: https://www.xerces.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/CA-milkweed-guide_XercesSoc6.pdf

Jim gardner, wow, nice to hear from you. Our varieties are different than yours. I am sure if i lived back in minnesota your variety would be more than welcome. It used to grow wild there. Many thanks. Karen

Monarch caterpillars will eat any milkweed (Asclepius) variety. The issue is that the tropical milkweed (Asclepias Curassavica, Mexican butterfly weed) does not go dormant so attracts the butterflies to not migrate. It is critical to cut it back when it is tine for the monarchs to leave to remove the attractant.

My mom was born in California

hi

g

LA LA LA LA

Kill the butterblies

DO NOT kill butterflies they are important to both us and the environment as they pollinate. Ways to help monarch butterflies Collect the small monarch eggs about 1mm long and preferably small caterpillars to reduce the risk of tachinid flies and enclose them in something with branches and feed the caterpillars any plant in the family asclepidaceae and make sure that the plants used have no traces of insecticides so they survive and if they fall without too much damage in the chrysalis period super glue ONLY THE BLACK HANGING SPUR to a branch until stuck and wait until it comes out. If it doesn’t come out within 60 days you can remove and destroy it. If you see strings hanging from a pupa before this time please crush the pupa and any maggots or any small red or black seed like things nearby which are parasitic fly pupae that if not killed will turn into flies that will kill more butterflies. Also do the same thing with any dead caterpillars especially if they have the same stringy disappointment. Also if any pupae drip brown liquid crush them up and discard because they too probably have the tachinid maggots. If you lightly press any pupae and they squirt the same brownish liquid crush them up too for the same reason. Usually pupae also have black or brown spots or are grey if they have tachinid maggots. Note:tachinid maggot infestations are always fatal if they have already exited the butterfly pupa or the pupa has changed colour due to the maggots. Also if the pupa changes colour to a brown or full grey it doesn’t always mean a dead butterfly as they naturally change colour to grey and become transparent and then emerge. Thanks

Are you trying to be edgy on a butterfly conservation site? Yikes

YESS!!! KILL THEM ALL!!

I just started my habitat with monarch and I have around 50 now. They are so beautiful... Hopefully I can get more

Planted milkweed to attract monarchs to our yard. One already laid her eggs a FEW days ago. Now the milkweed has some sort of blight or infestation. NOT the caterpillars. They haven't had time to hatch (?). Any idea? I don't want to spray the plants and kill the soon to hatch caterpillars.

That's wonderful that they are already laying eggs! Can you describe the blight/infestation? I would recommend leaving it be and not using pesticides because, as you mentioned, you could do the caterpillars more harm than good and they may just do fine anyway. Best of luck and keep us updated. Thank you!

So sorry... I replied to the post I received on email, but you can't reply to that. I finally figured this out, so I have a post way down there at the bottom. And, I didn't poison the milkweed.

I agree with Rebecca. Even aphids, I'm told, are not necessarily bad for a milkweed plant. I would leave them alone in deference to any Monarch caterpillars.

Like this website. Really explains well the difference between look a like butterflies and good photos! Now if I can just remember it, I would be set on my butterfly hunting!

First time here. Thank you for a great display and knowledge. I'm just getting started with a flower garden for the Monarchs. I am really excited about this. I will be checking back with you for more tips. THANK YOU.

My name is Marci Juett and I wish I could post this to Facebook to show my friends.

I so enjoyed reading especially learning that Monarch is the only one that relys on milkweed. I never mow them down. Have natural ones in my fields around me. The pictures here are Beautiful.

Writing from WI. My Husband and I started a large native prairie on our property 4 years ago. This is the first year we’re noticing a huge difference in the amount of monarchs. It’s truly amazing! Thank you for all your information. It’s been a great help as we learn more about Monarchs and making a suitable environment for them the thrive in. Regards!

Wonderful! I am very jealous and hope you continue.

We are finally seeing several monarch in our yard in central Kentucky. We are on our third year of having a monarh way station and are having so much enjoyment from it. We quit using chemicals on our yard and have noticed so many more lovely insects.

Russ Waite <[email protected]> Not a lot of them here yet in NW Florida. If I remember correctly, last year they got thick toward fall. That's when I started collecting seeds, planted them, have gorgeous milkweed now. Have had a lot of visitors that come and go. Two seemed to hit it off (midair) but no caterpillars yet. Had one early, but a bird musta got him. I think we are the end of the line for the east coast migration. Lived in Texas and California so I've seen a lot of migrations. I have pots of milkweed babies that I will share around my neighborhood in a month or two. They require little care (but I give them lots of water and food) and have a nice flower. My seeded plants look much better than the ones I bought, so seeds from now on. If you see a milkweed with a seed pod, take the pod home and plant it. Each individual little "helicopter" is a seed and will probably germinate in a well cared for pot. You could have a hundred seedlings from one pod. Then transplant them at maybe 4 or 5 inches tall to a nice sunny area (half a day will work) and watch 'em grow! Monarchs will come if they have ever been in your area.

I live in St. Cloud. Fla. just south of Orlando. Ive had a combination of Mon arks and a smaller one that looks like a monarch.They just ate every leave that i had, They are all sprouting new leaves, but there are eggs all over. I think they will be stripped again. Trying to grow leaves faster then they eat them.

Rachel Carson prophetic warning. Humanity in search of$is destroying furture generations. We refuse to protect Mother Earth. And so her death will be our end!

I always distinguished the Monarch from the Viceroy by the orange spots on the upper wings of the Monarch. The Viceroy only has white spots.

My husband and I live in Green Lake county, Wisconsin. We noticed a great amount of butterfly activity around the maple trees in the back yard tonight. When getting a closer look, we observed tree branches each hanging with dozens of Monarchs. Bet there were hundreds between the two trees. I did manage to capture a small video on my cell phone of one branch of butterflies. I am guessing that they're gathering to make their migration to Mexico soon.

Hi Mary, That sounds like a beautiful sight! We would love to see the video/photos you have taken. You can email them to [email protected]. Thank you!

Hello , i am muskan from india , i started reading about the butterflies when i read a chapter in my book , i am really fascinated to see the video which you recorded . Can you please send me that video via mail?

Hey , Mary! I am muskan. I would really love to watch that video. Can you please send it to me on - [email protected] I am really fascinated to watch that. And as I have just studied about it , I really wish to explore it more. So , it's my dearest request to you to sent me the video. It would be really great for me and my curiosity.

I saw tiny butterflies three together looked to have same colors as monarch can u let me know as I wanted to find they were close to footpath not up in air My daughter thought they might be moths

Great article. I just planted 3 purple butterfly bushes and 3 black eyed Susan’s outside our back windows in eastern Iowa. My 4 year old daughter and I spent the summer enjoying watching a few of the species above. Also saw the occasional hummingbird, and a few hummingbird moths (which I had no idea existed prior to this past year). A late warm fall day working on our deck outside this year was like working in a butterfly arboretum. Constant flourishes of multiple species. I highly recommend the butterfly bushes. I noticed the different sized monarchs and was curious why the size difference. They were likely viceroys which I mistook for juveniles or female monarchs. Fun to learn something new every day!

thank you saveourmonarchs for giving me wonderful information

One of my caterpillars was very small, yet it made a cocoon anyway and the cocoon is much smaller than normal - all the caterpillars looked same and were identified as monarch. Does anyone know why this is happening? Am I going to get a dwarf??

A "dwarf"? Whatever made you think of that?

I have passion flower vines in my yard and this butterfly missing it's rt lower wing has been laying eggs a lover my vines 4 2 days now it's a monarch look alike thank God I was about to spray 4 red spider with an organic soap spray but will limit my spraying to 2 ft above ground to give this little bit a wing lady a chance to spread her seed in Quartzsite Az

Butterflies!!

Fck butterflys

We’ve noticed caterpillars on our parsley plants that look like monarch caterpillars. Is this normal? We live in the panhandle area of Florida. Thanks

Parsley and dill are the host plants for Black Swallowtails.

I currently live in the state of GA. I do not begin to see any real monarch butterfly 🦋 no where. I would like to have a book on my favorite butterfly in the world. Is there a book or link to be referred to for my passion. Thank you for this platform.

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all the butterflies were so different that i can't tell which is monarch!

I live in FL. Went to Lowe’s and bought one Red Butterfly Milkweed thinking I might be able to attract butterflies when it bloomed. Lo and behold, it attracted a monarch. She layed some eggs. Long story short, I now have a habitat and 7 plants to feed the caterpillars. Most are in chrysalis with about 10 left on the plants! All in all, if they survive, I will have raised 32 monarchs!!! Right now I’m watching one spreading its wings to help dry them out. It’s been so much fun watching them from being an egg to becoming a beautiful butterfly! Have learned so much about them and enjoyed this hobby immensely!

Great share! This post is very useful.

Hi - we have recurring monarchs and today what I think is a look alike that doesn't look like any of those pictures you've posted. So I'm assuming there must be more, probably many more. Let me know if you'd like to see the picture.

It could be a Black Swallowtail. Their caterpillars look almost identical, except for the Swallowtails little yellow dips.

My girlfriend and I have Milkweeds growing at both of are houses for a way to preserve the Monarch. This is the second year that we've seen the Monarch caterpillars. Absolutely love it.

That’s awesome Karma

what’s so nice abt butterflies? i like to catch them in nets and kill them

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I've never seen any of it in person. I think they looks beautiful.

this article is very useful, thank you for making a good article

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What are some common lookalikes of the monarch butterfly, and how can you identify them?

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I just joined a garden club here in fl! At the first meting I attended, many brought plants! I recieved 3 Giant milkweed plants! Never knew about milkweed and monarchs! Plants were very small, but in FL everything seems to grow fast! Biggest is now 2 ft tall and growing very fast! Can't wait to see if I attract any beautiful butterflys! So many butterflys here! I have many flowers! Exciting for sure!

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Rebecca ChandlerGarden Educator, Naturalist and Ethnobotanist



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