Most people recognize the striking bright orange-and-black contrasts of a monarch butterfly. These beautiful butterflies are a common sight in many areas as they flit from flower to flower during the summer. Viceroy butterflies also have bright orange and black colors and look almost identical to the monarch butterfly. The viceroy butterfly benefits from looking like a monarch butterfly, because many predators avoid eating monarchs because of the milkweed that they eat. Because viceroys are mistaken for monarchs, they can escape the appetites of these predators as well. There are subtle differences between monarchs and viceroys; however, and an eye to the minute detail will enable anyone to tell the difference between the two butterflies.
Examine the outstretched wings of both the monarch butterfly and the viceroy butterfly. The viceroy butterfly’s wings are smaller than the monarch butterfly’s wings. Viceroy butterfly wings range between 2 ½ and 3 3/8 inches. Monarch butterfly wings range between 3 3/8 and 4 7/8 inches.
Look carefully at the black markings on the wings of both butterflies. Both butterflies have forewings and hindwings. The hindwings (the lower set of wings) of a monarch butterfly have stripes extending down from the top of the wings. A viceroy butterfly has similar stripes extending down the hindwings, except the viceroy’s hindwings also have a horizontal black stripe going across each hindwing. This horizontal stripe is the most significant difference between viceroys and monarchs.
Watch the monarch butterfly and the viceroy butterfly fly, if possible. Viceroy butterflies do not glide as smoothly as monarch butterflies.
Another fundamental difference between viceroys and monarchs is that monarch butterflies migrate each autumn. Viceroy butterflies do not migrate. They spend winter months keeping warm in a rolled-up poplar or willow leaf.
