- Viceroy butterfly
Taxobox
name = Viceroy Butterfly
image_width = 250px
image_caption = A typical Viceroy, mimic of the Monarch
regnum =Animal ia
phylum =Arthropod a
classis =Insect a
ordo =Lepidoptera
unranked_familia =Rhopalocera
superfamilia =Papilionoidea
familia =Nymphalidae
subfamilia =Limenitidinae
genus = "Limenitis "
species = "L. archippus"
binomial = "Limenitis archippus"
binomial_authority = Cramer,1775 The Viceroy Butterfly ("Limenitis archippus") is a North Americanbutterfly with a range from theNorthwest Territories along the eastern edges of theCascade Range and Sierra Nevada mountains, southwards into centralMexico .Its wings feature an orange and black pattern, and over most of its range it is a Müllerian mimic [cite journal | last = Ritland | first = David B. | coauthors = Lincoln P. Brower | title = The viceroy butterfly is not a batesian mimic | journal = Nature | volume = 350 | pages = 497–498 | date = 11 April 1991 | url = http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v350/n6318/abs/350497a0.html | doi = 10.1038/350497a0 | accessdate = 2008-03-29 | format = abstract] with the
Monarch Butterfly ("Danaus plexippus"). InFlorida , Georgia, and the Southwest, Viceroys share the pattern of theQueen Butterfly ("Danaus gilippus") and in Mexico they share the pattern of theSoldier Butterfly ("Danaus eresimus"). In all three areas, the Viceroy populations mimic the coloration of the local "Danaus" species. It was originally believed that the Viceroy was a Batesian mimic of the three other species, in that it was presumably edible or only mildly unpalatable to predators, but this has since proven not to be true.The
caterpillar feeds on trees in the willow familySalicaceae , includingwillow s ("Salix"), and poplars and cottonwoods ("Populus"). The caterpillars sequester thesalicylic acid in their bodies, which makes them bitter, and upsets predators' stomachs. As further protection, the caterpillars, as well as their chrysalis stage, resemble bird droppings. Adults are strictlydiurnal , they fly preferentially in the late morning and early afternoon. [cite journal | last = Fullard | first = James H. | coauthors = Nadia Napoleone | title = Diel flight periodicity and the evolution of auditory defences in the Macrolepidoptera | journal = Animal Behaviour | volume = 62 | issue = 2 | date = August 2001 | pages = 349–368 | doi = 10.1006/anbe.2001.1753 | url = http://www.erin.utoronto.ca/~w3full/reprints/FullNapolDielAB.pdf]The Viceroy is the state butterfly of
Kentucky .References
* [http://www.rlephoto.com/butterflies/viceroy01.html Vicroy, Butterflies of North Carolina]
* [http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species?l=1788 Description of Viceroy on Butterflies and Moths website]
* [http://www.killerplants.com/renfields-garden/20010725.asp A Bitter Plant Becomes a Bitter Butterfly]
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