Summer Monarch

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Summer Monarch

July 15, 2013 by Mike Powell

I haven’t seen a huge number of butterflies this summer, so I was happy to see a colorful butterfly this past weekend, which I believe is a Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus).

UPDATE: My tentative identification as a Monarch was not correct. Thanks to Jeremy Sell at The Life of Your Time for his help in identifying this as a Viceroy butterfly (Limenitis archippus archippus).

Posted in Butterflies, Flowers, Gardening, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography | Tagged Alexandria VA, butterfly, Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, Danaus plexippus, Huntley Meadows Park, Limenitis archippus archippus, Monarch, monarch butterfly, Viceroy butterfly | 13 Comments

13 Responses

on July 15, 2013 at 6:36 am | Reply New Hampshire Gardener

It certainly looks like a monarch, but I’m no butterfly expert.
on July 15, 2013 at 6:45 am | Reply Judy @ GrandparentsPlus2

Gorgeous photo.
- on July 15, 2013 at 6:54 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks. I love the orange and black colors of this butterfly and hope to see a whole lot more of them this summer.
on July 15, 2013 at 7:02 am | Reply gpcox

Great photo. After years of not seeing many, if any, butterflies around, I now have a neighbor that grows a plant (can’t recall the name) that attracts them. He ends up with a ton of cocoons every season and we get to have the butterflies again.
- on July 15, 2013 at 8:18 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks. I’m hoping that the butterflies are merely a little slow in appearing this year.
on July 15, 2013 at 11:52 am | Reply Sue

Ooh, a big healthy female ready to lay eggs! Nice shot.
- on July 15, 2013 at 2:42 pm | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks for the clarification. I suspected that might be the case, but I am always reluctant to suggest that creature is pregnant without knowing for sure.
on July 15, 2013 at 1:56 pm | Reply lylekrahn

Well the subject and the photographer really collaborated well on this one!
on July 17, 2013 at 2:29 am | Reply Bruce Ruston

That is a superb capture Mike
- on July 17, 2013 at 4:20 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks, Bruce. Butterflies seem to make me happy and I am always excited when I see them (and doubly so when I manage to photograph them).
on July 18, 2013 at 12:37 am | Reply Jeremy Sell

Mike, this is a viceroy not a monarch.

http://bugguide.net/node/view/548

This is one of the best-known examples of Batesian mimicry:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batesian_mimicry
- on July 18, 2013 at 4:35 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks, Jeremy, for helping me to correctly identify the butterfly. I considered the possibility that it was a viceroy, but it wasn’t a clear enough call for me, so I went with the Monarch, a type that I am more familiar with. My identification skills are getting a little better, but can always use more work.
  - on July 18, 2013 at 6:05 am Jeremy Sell
    
    Perhaps the easiest way to tell them apart is that viceroys have a horizontal black line running across the vertical black lines on each hindwing.
    
    I can always use more work as well. I just learned this may actually be Mullerian mimicry not Batesian mimicry. Regardless, the similarity between both insects is impressive.