Most people are aware of the awe-inspiring annual migration of the monarch butterfly between the northern United States and Mexico. Fewer people realize that there is a stable, year-round, non-migrating monarch population in south and central Florida, where it joins its resident cousin the queen, and to some extent competes with it.

Another member of the “royal family,” the soldier butterfly, is colonizing the state rapidly. Once rare strays from the West Indies, the soldiers’ numbers suddenly began to explode during the 1970s. They are now well-established in South Florida, and are expanding their range into the central part of the state.

The northern range most likely will fluctuate, depending on the severity of winters. While the insects themselves may survive freezing temperatures, if larval host plants do not, the breeding cycle is interrupted. If nectar plants freeze, adult insects may starve too.

The monarch is a truly regal creature that stands out in any crowd. Bright orange, it has striking black veins.Its prominent black wing borders are dotted with rows of white spots. The undersides of the wings are much paler, but the black veins and white markings remain unmistakable. One of the larger North American butterflies, the monarch glides majestically 3 to 6 feet above the ground, but if it needs to defend its territory or just wants to get somewhere in a hurry it can put on a show of speed. This ability to alternate sprints with long glides is critical to its success, not only in its annual migration, but in spreading itself as far as Australasia and the Mediterranean.

The queen is not as immediately impressive as the vivid monarch, but possesses its own quieter beauty. A rich, deep chestnut brown, with black wing borders and brilliant white scattered speckles, the queen flies and searches for nectar close to the ground.

Seen from above, queens lack the monarch’s striking black veins. However, the black veins are prominent on the undersides of the hindwings. With wings folded monarchs and queens could be mistaken for each other, but the queen is a uniform brown while the monarch’s undersides are orange and ochre. The queen also has more prominent white spots along the veins on the undersides of its hindwings.

Soldiers closely resemble queens, and can be hard to identify in the field. A semicircular band of pale spots about halfway down the hindwings that runs parallel to the wing margins is the easiest distinguishing mark to see.

However, individual soldiers vary widely in their shades of brown, and the semicircular band may barely be visible. Otherwise, their veins are more prominent than those of the queen, but not as striking as those of the monarch.

Males of all three species are identified by a black spot — a scent gland — near the middle of each hindwing. When it spots a female, the male prods the scent glands with appendages at the tip of its abdomen, and releases a shower of pheromones a receptive female will find attractive. After mating, the male and female fly in tandem, with the female hanging upside down, for 30-40 minutes or longer.

The viceroy looks almost identical to the monarch, but has a curving black line across the hindwings in addition to black wing borders. It is a pretender of sorts, and in a different family altogether. Yet, they share many qualities.

Monarchs, queens and soldiers are known as milkweed butterflies because their larvae eat milkweed, which makes them toxic. It once was thought that the viceroy was a simple mimic in coloration. As it turns out, however, the viceroy is also unpalatable due to the salicylic acid its caterpillars consume, but their food comes from the willow leaves.

This type of mimicry, in which a number of distasteful or otherwise nasty species show the same kind of warning coloration and markings is known as Mullerian mimicry after the scientist who first described the phenomenon.

Queens are less common in north Florida than in the southern half of the state. Correspondingly, viceroys in north Florida are more orange, like the monarchs, and browner, like the queens, in their southern range. Viceroys can be observed in wetlands where willows grow, but are not frequent visitors to home gardens.

Monarchs and queens are easy to entice to the garden. All it takes is milkweed, the more the better. (Find out what kinds of milkweed the monarch family feed on in the side story.)

If you want to know what kind of butterflies will be hatching from those caterpillars, Monarchs have white, yellow and black transverse bands, and have two sets of antennae-like appendages. Queen and soldier caterpillars have added maroon coloration and 3 sets of appendages. They all form a jade green chrysalis. Subtle differences in the number and placement of gold marks on the chrysalis distinguish the species.

Male queens are particularly attracted to certain plants such as ageratum, Florida elephant’s foot, eupatoriums and heliotropiums, which all provide chemicals required for fertility. In general queens also seem to like white flowers, but will seek nectar on a wide variety of blossoms. While they are consolidating their presence in Florida, garden abundance of soldiers may be high or low, for no apparent reason.

However, they are very fond on the weedy “Spanish Needles, “(Bidens alba), for nectar. If there is a part of the garden that can be left somewhat untidy, it is a butterfly nectar plant worth having.

Bright and beautiful, monarchs, queens and soldiers add color and motion to the garden. Treasure the rare viceroy that strays in during summer storms. They are attracted to fermenting fruit, but will feed on some flowers.

Monarchs can be plentiful in winter, when many local butterflies are resting or in between broods. Given the right plants, anybody in south Florida can entertain and be entertained by royalty on a regular basis.

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Dinners fit for a king

The most available and reliable larval food for South Florida milkweed butterflies is the “Scarlet Milkweed,” (Asclepias curassavica) from the West Indies. Several native milkweeds grow in South Florida, but they are rarely available in the nursery trade, and do not provide as much forage as the exotic Scarlet Milkweed.

Milkweed butterflies also feed on White Vine, (Sarcostemma clausum); its native status is debated. Scarlet Milkweed grows in this area as a long-lived annual or short-lived perennial. Given ample moisture, it can take full sun, and it can survive boggy conditions too. Very showy in bloom, it becomes leggy and unappealing over time. Pinch or cut it back regularly for a bushier, more attractive plant.

Scarlet milkweed roots easily and germinates easily from seed. There is some concern that the plant could become invasive, but the experience of butterfly gardeners has been that no matter how much milkweed self-sows, there are caterpillars to devour it — leaves, blossoms, non-woody sections of the stems and all.

If you want to grow it, tuck milkweeds behind and among other plants so that clusters of bare, chewed stalks do not festoon the garden when caterpillars are active. An alternative is to keep the milkweed in pots so that it can be rotated in and out of sight as needed. Start with a minimum of three bushy plants.

Unfortunately, Scarlet Milkweed is very susceptible to aphids and spider mites, especially in the dry weather of early spring. If the females are not already laying eggs, infested plants can be sprayed with Neem or Superfine oil, but ovipositing females will shun recently sprayed plants, and the oils can kill the caterpillars. Aphids can be brushed off with a small paintbrush.

The best solution for a heavy mite infestation is to cut the plants back hard, discard the affected parts and fertilize and water to boost new growth.

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Sources

“Butterflies and Moths”; David Carter; Darling Kindersley, 1992

“Conquering Soldiers: The Successful Invasion of Florida by Danaus eresimus (Lepidoptera:Nymphalidae)”; Calhoun, J.V. 1996. Holarctic Lepidoptera 3:7-18 (available on the internet)

“Florida’s Fabulous Butterflies”; Thomas C. Emmel, photography by Brian Kenney; World Publications, 1st ed., 1997

“Monarch Butterfly Larvae (...) With Three Tubercle Pairs in South Florida”; Bethany Farray and Andrew K. Davis; Florida Entomologist, Vol. 87, no. 3, pp. 408-411

“Florida Butterflies”; Eugene Gerberg and Ross Arnett; Natural Science Publications, Inc., 1989

“Florida Butterfly Gardening”; Marc C. Minno and Maria Minno, University Press of Florida, 1999

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