Was the butterfly sighted in North Carolina a monarch?
(Observation | Evidence | Vote)
Review the Evidence
Here are some of the questions Journey North asked this observer:
QUESTION #1: Was the butterfly yellow rather than orange?
ANSWER #1: No, it was definitely orange. The other person who was with me agrees, it was orange.
QUESTION #2: Did you notice the wing shape and pattern?
ANSWER #2: Wing shape: Yes, the wing shape appeared to be the same as a monarch's. Pattern: I didn't get as good of a look at the pattern, even though the butterfly was about 2 meters away from me. It had orange wings with white dots on a black background, on the upper outer edges of its wings, also black lines like the monarch has. I was not able to observe if the butterfly had the distinctive black line of a viceroy butterfly.
QUESTION #3: Do you think you saw a Tiger Swallowtail?
ANSWER #3: It was most definitely not a swallowtail. The wings did not have the bottom " shape" of a swallowtail wing, and there was no blue on the wing. I am very familiar with swallowtails as my students (625 of them) bring in many of those and other species during the school year.
QUESTION #4: Do you happen to know how long ago willows, poplars, and/or cottonwood trees leafed out? We wonder if you saw a Viceroy. The Viceroy caterpillar feeds on leaves of willows, poplars and/or cottonwoods. The adult viceroy butterflies don't appear immediately in the spring because 1) first the trees must leaf-out and then 2) the caterpillar has to eat leaves and grow and then 3) spend time in the chrysalis stage and finally 4) emerge as an adult. I suspect these steps take at least 2-4 weeks in cool spring temperatures.
ANSWER #4: Willows began leafing out maybe 3 weeks ago. Poplar trees on our campus began leafing out at the same time. This information comes to me from our Director of Facilities who is in charge to the grounds crew and maintenance crews of our school. He said the cottonwood trees began leafing out on campus the weekend of 3/19/11.
QUESTION #5: Do you think you saw a Viceroy?
ANSWER #5: After your initial email to me, I have researched/compared pictures of viceroys and monarchs. Since I didn't look for the markings of a viceroy, I was unaware of what to look for to know the difference. The one main property I did notice was the flight pattern. The butterfly I saw flew erratically and didn't glide through the air. I believe I saw a viceroy butterfly.
QUESTION #6: Has milkweed emerged yet?
ANSWER #6: I will find out.
QUESTION #7: Did you see a Painted Lady?
You mentioned erratic flight in your original report. Painted Ladies don't sit still the way monarchs do and their overall coloring can look similar when in motion. Painted Ladies are generally smaller, but a large Painted Lady can be almost as big as a small Monarch.
ANSWER #7: Absolutely not. The butterfly was much larger and the markings were not the same. We grow and release Painted Ladies each year so I am very familiar with how they look.
QUESTION #8: Could it have been released after a wedding or other celebration? We have had people report sightings of released monarchs before!
ANSWER #8: I've never heard of monarchs being released for weddings, just Painted Ladies.
