The Great Pretender

Edit: Cindy did complete an email interview with me, but "life" got in my way of getting it posted. I've decided wait unitl next spring to post her words of wisdom because it will be a perfect time to read Cindy's hints for those of you who want to attract Monarchs and other butterflies to your property.



I think that Monarch and Viceroy Butterfly wings look like stained glass windows. This picture was taken at Garlo Heritage Nature Preserve in Seneca County, Ohio. Do you think that it is a Monarch or Viceroy? The two look so much alike that it takes a closer inspection to identify exactly which butterfly one is looking at.

 

 

At first, I thought this was a Monarch. But when I cropped the picture to prepare it for this blog post, my brain cells got all fussed up.

Something looked different....maybe. I looked at the picture of a Monarch in my last post and, yep, the wing pattern was a teeny-tiny bit different.

Then I wondered...which is which? I needed help in thinking this out and donned my Sherlock hat. A quick Internet search helped me to decide that my first picture is correct; it is a Monarch. And the beauty pictured above is a Viceroy.

I am not going to explain the differences; if you are interested, your assignment is research. To help, this webpage is excellent.  

If you are a more casual lover of butterflies, I am sure that you'll agree with me that both have beautiful wings, fit for any cathedral :)

Meanwhile, back at the ranch....Cindy, our Monarch enthusiast, informs that last week was prime migration time for Monarchs in our area. She reports seeing at least a dozen flitting around one day. I have also seen many of the orange beauties. I did not get any pictures because they had the petal to the metal. Who knew that butterflies could fly so fast? They have a long way to go, so I can't blame them for not taking long lay-overs here in Ohio.

Cindy is working on a guest blog post for OCJ, where she will share her adventure trip to Mexico, where she was dazzled by the sheer amount of orangeness.

For now, Cindy says, " Last I checked, I have had 4 or 5 tags recovered! They do go to Mex from here! Wish I could join them."

Marcheta * "You know my methods, Watson"