Bug Identifier
Queen Butterfly Caterpillar
Community identification

Queen Butterfly Caterpillar

Danaus gilippus

Order & Family
Order: Lepidoptera, Family: Nymphalidae
Size
Length ranges from 25mm to 45mm fully grown.
See this bug in the Encyclopedia

Natural Habitat

Found in warm regions, fields, and gardens where milkweed and related plants grow.

Diet & Feeding

Exclusively consumes milkweed leaves, sequestering toxic cardiac glycosides.

Behavior Patterns

Larvae feed voraciously on host plants and hang upside down from stems before pupating into a chrysalis.

Risks & Benefits

Benefits pollinators as an adult, but caterpillars can heavily defoliate garden milkweed.