Queen Butterflies visit my yard, but I only see them once in a while. My
butterflies are nearly always in
sight, which I really like too, but the habits of the Queen Butterflies
make seeing one more special because I don't see them as often.
The Life Cycle of the Queen Butterfly:
Queen Butterflies lay their
eggs on Milkweed, so we call
Milkweed their Host Plant.
The eggs hatch into little caterpillars that look a lot like Monarch
Butterfly Caterpillars, but they have three pairs of... what IS the
correct term for those antenna looking protrusions? Email me if you
know, and I'll add looking that up to my list of things to do. Back to
where we were though, the Queen caterpillar has three pairs, and the
Monarch caterpillar has only two. (It's missing the middle pair). You
might also find a Soldier Caterpillar on Milkweed. For descriptions of
those, keep reading below.
This first Queen Caterpillar is the rare
See the color variation in the caterpillars? The top one is more dark,
and more rare, but all three photos are Queen Butterfly Caterpillars.
After the caterpillars have eaten enough Milkweed, shed their skin
several times, and grown up enough, they hang upside-down and turn into
If all goes well, they emerge from their chrysalis as a beautiful Queen
John Calhoun, the Florida butterfly coordinator for
Butterflies and Moths of North
, my favorite butterfly page, wrote a
on Soldier and Queen butterflies that you can access from the
My pages are a hobby, so I'll post my pictures and the stuff I've
observed personally, and try to hyperlink to the experts for those of
you who want more information about these beautiful butterflies.