By Kathy Feagan
Big Country Master Gardener
Monarch (Danaus plexippus) are mighty migrators (flying up to 3,000 miles per year) whose caterpillars only eat milkweed, which is where the Monarch lays her eggs. The lifespan of Monarchs is 2-6 weeks, although the last generation of the year (usually in August) can live up to 8-9 months. They spend their lives migrating south to hibernate then migrate north to start breeding each spring. They lay 1 egg per milkweed plant and may lay about 400 eggs in their lifetime. The hatched caterpillars go through 5 instars, spend up to 2 weeks in chrysalis then finally emerge as adults. The caterpillars can eat an entire milkweed leaf (about 200 times their weight) in less than 5 minutes. They also eat their egg upon hatching, as well as their shed skins in each of their 5 instar stages. Monarch wings are made up of thousands of scales which aid their aerodynamic flying abilities. To spot the difference between male and female Monarchs, look for distinctive black spots on the center of the male’s center back wings.
Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanilla)butterflies are often called passion butterflies. Passion vines are the host plants for Gulf Fritillary, Zebra Longwings, and Variegated fritillaries. Gulf fritillaries are found in the southern states, Florida, Mexico and South America. Adults migrate north in the spring into the southeast to temporary breeding colonies, producing many generations of butterflies. In late summer, they move to over-winter in warm, southern areas. They rarely travel as far north as the central states. Florida sees the most migrating Gulf fritillaries both on their northern and southern migrations. Most overwinter in chrysalis form but a few can overwinter in leaf litter or soil, after leaving larvae or eggs in a protected spot. They lay their eggs on or near passion vines then the larva hatch and eat the passion vines, nearly defoliating the entire vine. The pupa is light to dark brown and looks like a dead leaf, from which a new adult butterfly emerges. The butterfly lives for about 2 to 3 weeks.
Pipevine swallowtail (Battus philenor) are mostly seen in the south to southwest U.S. Their hostplants are toxic to all but the swallowtails, whose caterpillar uses the toxin for defense, secreting a bad tasting liquid when threatened. This toxin is present from egg to butterfly. Only arboreal lizards can prey on the larvae. After hatching, the larva feed as a big group until they mature and grow (they go through 5 stages, ‘instars’). They molt their skin in each instar to emerge bigger and often change coloration. Their dark maroon coloring and orange spikes keep predators away. Finally, the caterpillar spins a small web to anchor itself, then, spins the chrysalis. In about 2 weeks, the butterfly emerges. Males are iridescent blue while the females are mostly black. The metamorphosis from egg to adult takes about 30 days and the butterfly can live up to 2 months. The caterpillars eat only Aristolochia (Pipevine/Dutchman’s pipes) and birthworts. The butterflies also love native thistle, butterfly weed, sedum, lantana and other flowering plants for nectar. Their habitats include fields, pastures, gardens, woodlands and roadsides.
Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia) are light to medium brown atop two orange bars of the front edge of the forewing and a whitish band crossing the forewing and encircling the forewing eyespot. All four wings have eyespots, which makes them easy to spot and identify. They are common everywhere in Texas. Adults and larvae overwinter and enter a state called diapause, similar to hibernation. They move south with tailwinds in late summer after migrating northward each year to colonize all over the United States. Huge numbers migrate to Florida, Texas and further south to overwinter. They cannot tolerate freezing conditions. Caterpillars chew while the adult Buckeye siphons. Caterpillars eat broad-leaved weeds, American bluehearts (wildflower), turkey tangle frogfruit, Plantain lanceolate (English plantain), acanthus, and Gerardia. Buckeyes’ host plants include Gerardias, false foxglove, snapdragons and toadflax. They are also very attracted to Black-eyed Susans, Asclepias tuberosa (milkweed), Asters, Coneflowers and Joe Pyre weeds. You’ll often find them in sandy areas and paths. They tend to fly erratically, rising and falling, and often perch on bare ground to sun themselves. Their color changes with the fall colors often becoming more rosy to easily blend and camouflage themselves. The butterfly lives for 5 to 20 days.
Zebra Longwings (Heliconious charitonius) lay their small, yellow ribbed eggs, in clusters, on the tendrils and tips of the leaves of their host plant, passion flower vines. The egg becomes a butterfly over about 3 weeks, then the adult can live up to 6 months, twice as long as most butterflies, thanks to their diet of nectar and pollen. They are protected from predators by their bright stripes and the toxic compounds in the passion vines makes the caterpillar and butterfly poisonous. Their caterpillars feed on the passion vine’s leaves. A few hours before emerging, the females release a pheromone to attract males to her chrysalis. Many males swarm and fight and some attach themselves to the female’s chrysalis. As she emerges, they fight and the victor immediately mates with the female, passing a spermatophore to her to lessen her attraction to other males. This makes the female go straight to laying eggs after mating. The caterpillars can completely strip the passion vine of leaves, but the leaves will return quickly. Zebra longwings roost in large groups, from a few to 30 butterflies, each night. This protects them from predators and helps them stay warm, returning nightly to the same spot. The oldest get first choice of the sleeping spots. It is believed that they are able to memorize the locations of their daily diet of flowers and plan the most expeditious route to visit them each day. They migrate seasonally with the changing temperatures, moving from Mexico to Texas, New Mexico and the Carolinas. They are strongly attracted to their host passion vine, which their caterpillars feed upon.
Variegated Fritillary (Euptoieta Claudia) lay their eggs on host plants Passion Vines, violets, Pansies, Purslane and Flax. They depend on Zinnias, Milkweed and Butterfly Bush, and many more, for nectar, which they sip and pollen, which they eat. They love open, sunny areas like fields, pastures and roadsides to find their food sources of butterfly weed, milkweed, dogbane, wildflowers and red clover. Their most desired host plant is Passion flowers. They cannot survive freezing temperatures so they migrate south as winter comes and then migrate north in the spring, producing 2 to 3 broods per year. They overwinter as adults in warm areas. Their caterpillar looks threatening but they are not. The chrysalis is beautiful with gold spikes. From egg stage to larval caterpillar is about 2 weeks, then larval overwinters to later enter chrysalis to pupal stage to hatch into a butterfly in 2 weeks. The emerged butterfly then lives for up to 10 days.
Queen (Danaus gilppus) feed on the nectar of milkweeds and milkweed vines, which are also their larval host plants. The Queen and her caterpillar receive the toxins from milkweed to protect them from predators. Queens, like Monarchs and many other butterflies, are very attracted to Gregg’s mistflower and blue mistflower. They also visit many tall blooming plants like lantana, while males are more attracted to Eupatorium and Ageratum. These plants contain alkaloids necessary for breeding. Mating occurs mainly midafternoons when the male hunts for females around milkweeds. He releases a sex pheromone that makes her want to reproduce. They migrate only short distances in the tropics. Queens are found from Central America to the southern United States. They are often seen in meadows, open fields and marshy areas as well as deserts and woodlands. During dry seasons, they fly to higher elevations thanks to their strong flying abilities. At night, they roost in groups in shrubs and trees. They feed and depend on milkweed for nectar and as their host plant. Milkweed is also the larval host. The female lays little white eggs which hatch yellow spotted, black and white caterpillars which go through six instars before pupating. The adult queen emerges after about a week then can live for up to three months. Queens usually have 2 to 3 broods per year. They are often confused with Monarchs so identify them by their more brownish orange coloring without the very bold black lines of the Monarch. Even their caterpillars are very similar so look for the three filaments (two long pairs forward and one shorter pair on the rear of the queen’s caterpillar) versus only 2 filaments, front and back, on Monarch caterpillars.
If you have any questions, call the Taylor County Extension Office at 325-672-6048 or email us at mgardeners@yahoo.com. We hope you visit bcmgtx.org for information on all Big Country Master Gardener events, like us on BCMGA Facebook, and check out training presentations on the BCMGA YouTube channel. We are here to help you.
