Queen

The queen belongs to a family (Danaidae) that is common to both New and Old Worlds, specifically found throughout the tropics and into the temperate regions of the Americas, Asia, and Africa. Stray specimens are found in Europe. The queen is chiefly a tropical species. In the US, it is usually confined to the southern portion of the country. It can be found regularly in peninsular Florida and southern Georgia, as well as in the southern portions of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. Occasionally, the subspecies of the queen can be found somewhat north, in Kansas, Colorado, and Utah. Periodically, a stray may be found in the Midwest, such as in Missouri. The berenice subspecies is found largely in the Southeast and the strigosus in the Southwest. The queen is also found in Cuba. It is more common in southern Central America, with numbers beginning to rise in Mexico. The queen can be found as far south as Argentina. Although the queen does not undertake dramatic migrations like the monarch, most undertake short-distance travel at tropical latitudes in areas that have a distinct dry season. During those periods, the queen will fly from lowlands to high elevations. Throughout its distribution, the queen can be found on open land, in meadows, fields, and marshes. …

Females lay small white eggs one at a time on larval host plants, usually members of the milkweed subfamily Asclepiadoideae. The egg hatches into a black caterpillar with transverse white stripes and yellow spots, and three pairs of long, black filaments. The caterpillar feeds on the host plant and sequesters chemicals that make it distasteful to some predators. It then goes through five instars, after which the larva finds a suitable spot to pupate. The adult emerges 7 to 10 days afterwards. The queen butterfly has multiple generations per year.

Egg. The queen butterfly oviposits one egg at a time. Each individual egg can be found on leaves, stems, and flower buds of the host. The eggs are usually pale green, ovate to conical in shape, with a flattened base and slightly truncated top, and is longitudinally ribbed with raised cross-lines between the ridges. Compared to that of the monarch butterfly, the egg of the queen butterfly is taller relative to its width.

Caterpillar. The mature queen caterpillar is darker and not as brightly colored as the monarch caterpillar. It is nearly identical to the caterpillar of Danaus chrysippus. In the larval stage, the queen is bluish-white dorsally, with a reddish-brown underside. It has three pairs of black, fleshy tentacles—one is on the head, one is on the second thoracic segment and one is on the eighth abdominal segment. …

The queen larvae feed on Apocynaceae (milkweeds and dogbanes). It can survive on a number of hosts. Common plants include butterflyweed (Asclepias tuberosa) and bloodflower (Asclepias curassavica). In the West Indies, blunt-leaved milkweed (Asclepias amplexicaulis) and honey vine (Cynanchum laeve) are favored. The caterpillar has also been observed on Asclepias nivea, Calotropis procera, Asclepias humistrata, and Apocynaceae nerium. Other reported host genera include Apocynum, Cynanchum (former Sarcostemma species), Gonolobus, and Stapelia.