Danaus gilippus
Queen
A member of the Family Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies),
Order Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths), Class Insecta (Insects),
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods), Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Larva, eating Asclepias subulata, a milkweed.
This caterpillar looks very much like that of its relative, the Monarch, but in
addition to a subtle difference in the banding, the Queen has three pairs of antenna-like
projections, while the Monarch has but two pairs.
Since my efforts were primarily directed toward photographing the milkweed, it was only
after I reviewed the images on the computer that I noticed one could see the progress
this caterpilar was making in ingesting the milkweed flower buds.
Along Essex Road several miles northwest of entrance sign at ca. 2400 feet elevation.
4 May 2008.
Images copyright © Lee Dittmann.
This page created 15 September 2008; revised 10 December 2009.
An unofficial website to celebrate the landscapes and life
of this eastern Mojave Desert region
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This website created by Lee Dittmann of Mindbird Maps & Books, a Kingman, Arizona retail store. You can help support the development and maintenance of this site with your purchases of maps, magnifiers, field notebooks, field guides, and much more from the Mindbird website.
See the Mindbird Maps & Books website at www.mindbird.com.
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