Photos courtesy Sandy Hart, Florida
March 18, 2008
Copyright (c) 2008 Sandy Hart

The Queen is a large chocolate brown butterfly. The wings are edged with black and there are a few white spots on the wings, but the predominant impression is chocolate. Its close relative, the Monarch, has black wing veins above and is generally a lighter color of orange, and larger. Male Queens have a black spot on the hind wing. The caterpillar is brightly banded with rows of lime-green, black and yellow. It looks just like a Monarch caterpillar, but has three pairs of antenna-like tubercles instead of two. The chrysalis looks like a one inch high lime-green jack-o-lantern with a trim of golden dots. The chrysalis hangs by a cremaster from its host plant. The butterfly is most active on sunny and warm days. The caterpillar host plants are milkweed of all types. An interesting fact about the Queen is it cannot fly until the sun has warmed its body temperature. There is some question as to whether it is a butterfly at all.