After posting about the queen caterpillars on our rush milkweeds last week, this week I came across another scene.
Yes, there’s a butterfly and a caterpillar. Do you see what is unusual about this?
Let’s take a closer look.
Catch it yet?
Maybe if you see the caterpillar more closely?
The caterpillar has two pairs of filaments or “tubercles” that look like antennae. That means it is a monarch butterfly caterpillar, Danaus plexippus.
The butterfly is a queen butterfly, Danaus gilippus. The queen caterpillar has three pairs of tubercles and different patterned stripes (see comparison here).
They are life stages of two different species, although they are related.
Yes, our milkweeds are busy this year.
