ENY 3005 Family Identification

Lepidoptera: Danaidae

Common name: milkweed butterflies

Monarch, Danaus plexippus (Linnaeus)
 

Identifying characteristics for the family Danaidae include:

• Large orange-colored butterflies with black veins and white-spotted black outer margins.
• Front legs reduced, as in the Nymphalidae and Satyridae.

• Caterpillars feeding on milkweeds store glycosides which make these species poisonous and emetic to many parasitoids and predators.
• The two species occurring in central Florida, the monarch and the queen, are pictured here. A third species, the soldier, Danaus eresimus, occurs in the tropical parts of southern Florida.
• Check the web site below for information on the migration of monarch butterflies.
• The viceroy, family Nymphalidae, closely resembles the monarch. It differs from the monarch by having a strong postmedian line on the upper side of both wings and has fewer white spots in the black margins.

Larva of the queen butterfly. Note that this species has 3 pairs of black filaments whereas the monarch larva has just 2 pairs of filaments along the body.

References:

• Page 228 and plate 9 in D. J. Borror and R. E. White. 1970. A Field Guide to the Insects. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.
• Pages 278-279 in R. G. Bland and H. E. Jaques. 1978. How to Know the Insects, 3rd ed. Dubuque, Iowa: Wm. C. Brown Co. 409 p.
• Page 223 and plates 3,4, and 36 in P. A. Opler. 1992. A Field Guide to Eastern Butterflies. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co. 396 p.
• Page 645 in D. J. Borror, C. A. Triplehorn, and N. F. Johnson. 1989. An Introduction to the Study of Insects, 6th ed. Philadelphia: Saunders College Publishing. 875 p.
• E. J. Gerberg and R. H. Arnett, Jr. 1989. Florida Butterflies [and Skippers]. Baltimore: Natural Science Publications. 90 p.
• Page 552 in H. V. Daly, J. T. Doyen, and A. H. Purcell III. 1998. Introduction to Insect Biology and Diversity, 2nd ed. Oxford University Press. 680 p.

Links to other web sites

• Monarch Watch