I have not seen very many Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) this summer, though I did spot a similar-looking Viceroy butterfly (Limenitis archippus) on Tuesday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Monarchs were in the news last week. According to the Smithsonian Magazine, “The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), a Switzerland-based conservation organization that monitors the status of wildlife, added migratory monarchs (Danaus plexippus plexippus) to its list of threatened species this week.”
I decided to include an image of a Monarch that I captured earlier this month as it was feeding on a cone flower. I thought I would have more chances to photograph more monarchs, but this one was the only one that I have seen in July.
How do you tell the two species apart? The main visual difference between the two species is the black line across the Viceroy’s hind wings, which Monarch butterflies do not have. Both are stunningly beautiful.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
I too read this week about the monarch butterfly being placed on endangered list. I have a flowerbed full of milkweed for them.
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Thanks, Mitzy, for doing what you can. The problem is pretty complicated, it seems, with habitat issues at both ends of the migrations.
For sure we can only do what we can do. I’m sad for the extinction of the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker too. I wonder just how many animals, plants, etc have passed into extinction?
We up here in NH have connected many Monarch Weigh stations but it won’t mean a thing once they leave our perfect spots for their homeland 😦
Very nice butterfly images Mike! Enjoyed seeing them!