science education resource

Butterfly (Viceroy)

To view these resources with no ads, please Login or Subscribe to help support our content development.

School subscriptions can access more than 175 downloadable unit bundles in our store for free (a value of $1,500).

District subscriptions provide huge group discounts for their schools. Email for a quote: sheri@exploringnature.org.

Limenitis archippus
Butterfly (Viceroy)

Range

They are found from northern Canada, south throughout the eastern U.S. and in the west in areas in Washington, south through the mountains in California into central Mexico.

Habitat

They live in marshes, meadows, riversides and along lake shores.

Body Traits

They look like the Monarch butterfly but are darker orange with thicker black veins and margins. They have white spots along the edge of their wings and in the black border. They have a wingspan of up to 3.5".

Habits

Young caterpillars make a ball of leaf bits, dung, and silk, which hangs off the leaf on which they are feeding. The dangling mass of caterpillar garbage may distract predators.

Diet

The caterpillars eat willow and poplar.

To view these resources with no ads, please Login or Subscribe to help support our content development.

School subscriptions can access more than 175 downloadable unit bundles in our store for free (a value of $1,500).

District subscriptions provide huge group discounts for their schools. Email for a quote: sheri@exploringnature.org.

Reproduction

Females lay eggs on the tips of willow and poplar leaves that hatching caterpillars will eat.

Butterfly (Viceroy)

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class:  Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Nymphalidae
Genus:  Limenitis
Species: L. archippus

Citing Research References

When you research information you must cite the reference. Citing for websites is different from citing from books, magazines and periodicals. The style of citing shown here is from the MLA Style Citations (Modern Language Association).

When citing a WEBSITE the general format is as follows.
Author Last Name, First Name(s). "Title: Subtitle of Part of Web Page, if appropriate." Title: Subtitle: Section of Page if appropriate. Sponsoring/Publishing Agency, If Given. Additional significant descriptive information. Date of Electronic Publication or other Date, such as Last Updated. Day Month Year of access < URL >.

Here is an example of citing this page:

Amsel, Sheri. "Butterfly (Viceroy)" Exploring Nature Educational Resource ©2005-2024. March 26, 2024
< http://www.exploringnature.org/db/view/Butterfly-Viceroy >

Exploringnature.org has more than 2,000 illustrated animals. Read about them, color them, label them, learn to draw them.