The Viceroy (Limenitis archippus) is a North American butterfly with a range from the Northwest Territories along the eastern edges of the Cascade Range and Sierra …
Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original work.. Caterpillar of the viceroy butterfly. The caterpillar is spiny but harmless, and in fact is the species most often included in butterfly rearing kits. In human society, that would be termed an imposter.
Your caterpillar is most definitely in the genus Limenitis.
A black line across the hindwing distinguishes it from the Monarch. The Viceroy Butterfly is best known for being a mimic of the Monarch.
The hybrid species is named Limenitis Rubidus.
The Viceroy butterfly (Limenitis archippus) is nearly identical to the Monarch butterfly.
This Viceroy is drinking the bubbles from a spittle bug. Adult Viceroy butterflies feed on fruit, flowers, and other available food. - NatureWorks The viceroy butterfly is dark orange with black veins. Feeding and development resumes that following spring.
Temperatures control how early leaf-out occurs, how quickly the leaves grow, how quickly the caterpillars grow, the chysalis develops and the adult butterfly emerges. The body is black. Caterpillars have just about every oddity one can think of when describing a caterpillar.
Location The chrysalis stage takes up to 10 days, after which the caterpillar emerges out as an adult viceroy butterfly.
In these kits, you receive a coupon to send in for eggs or newly hatched caterpillars, which feed on a kind of paste included in the kit.
(Reduced) (Photograph by Weed). The coloring of the Viceroy closely mimics the foul-tasting Monarch, offering the Viceroy a chance to avoid predators. Caterpillars hang in a J shape to pupate.
The viceroy is also known to rarely form natural hybrids with the red-spotted purple butterfly, scientifically known as Limenitis Astyanax.
Like many caterpillars on this list, larvae of the cloudless sulfur butterfly are about 2 inches long. It has orange-brown wings with dark black veins. It is a dead ringer for a Viceroy Caterpillar image on BugGuide. As further protection, the caterpillars, as well as their chrysalis stage, resemble bird droppings. The rate of viceroy development will depend on spring temperatures.
An obvious black line curves across the hindwings.
Development proceeds more slowly in cooler temperatures and more quickly in warmer temperatures. Its color and pattern mimics the monarch butterfly's pattern except for a black horizontal stripe that crosses the bottom of its back wings.
Viceroy caterpillars have more spikes on their bumps and their tubercles on their thorax are slightly different. Admiral caterpillars overwinter in the same fashion as the Viceroy’s, are also bird-poop mimics, and are so similar to Viceroy caterpillars that only their mamas can distinguish them for sure. Note: To distinguish Viceroy caterpillars from Red-Spotted Purple caterpillars, look for spiked rather than rounded projections behind the head. A row of white spots edge its wings.
Its wingspan is in the 2.6" - … They have humps, bumps, antennae, and can bend at right angles. The viceroy caterpillar is white and olive-brown. Partially grown caterpillars from the third brood spend the winter in a specially rolled leaf called a hibernaculum that they silk to a branch. Viceroy Limenitis arthemis_astyanax larva Red Spotted Purple Lithophane querquera Shivering Pinion Lochmaeus bilineata larva Double-lined Prominent Lochmaeus manteo larva Variable Oak Leaf Caterpillar Moth Lophocampa caryae larva Hickory Tussock … Viceroy Butterfly Viceroy Butterfly Coloration and Size. After about a day, the caterpillar pupates. They can be seen in two predominant colors; green with a yellow lateral line, and yellow with black bands, blue patches are common to both.
They populate plants such as the partridge pea, clovers, and various legumes.