Graphic with a blue sign and lots of colorful flowers and leaves surrounding it. Graphic text reads: A Flower Garden in North America

How do the colors and shapes of these insects help them survive in their habitat?

Graphic with text that reads: Camouflage, blending into the habitat
Graphic with text that reads: Mimicry, blending like other animals
Graphic with text that reads: Startle, surprising predators!
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Mimicry

The monarch butterfly and the viceroy butterfly both have bright orange-and-black patterns on their wings. You have to look very carefully to tell them apart. Their similarity gives both species an advantage.

Lots of animals love to eat butterflies. Some caterpillars eat willow catkins and leaves. That makes them taste bitter after they turn into butterflies. If a bird eats them, it might even throw up! Tasting terrible helps the butterflies stay safe, but only if their predators know they’re bad to eat. Monarch butterflies advertise their bitterness with their colorful wings. Because viceroy butterflies have nearly identical patterns, it’s easy for a hungry bird to mistake these mini masters of disguise for monarchs. 

For a long time, scientists thought that Viceroys just looked like they tasted bad but actually tasted fine to predators. Now they think viceroys taste bitter too. Looking like each other helps both species. When a predator eats either a monarch or a viceroy, it has a bad experience. Next time it’s hungry, it knows to stay away from anything with black-and-orange wings.

Conservation status? Like many butterfly species, viceroys could use our protection. Scientists don’t know how many there are. But they do know that viceroys have lost much of their habitat due to development and invasive species.

Discover another mini master of disguise.

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Credits
Credits:

Viceroy butterfly, @Shutterstock; All illustrations, Zack Faust/@AMNH