from what i understand, many of the milkweeds up here are less toxic than the ones further south. as a result sometimes birds up here will (successfully) eat a monarch (adult or caterpillar) and thus become convinced that they are all edible.
if viceroys were more common up here, it would be interesting to see whether they mimicked monarchs here, as well. (the black female form of the eastern yellow tiger swallowtail is less common in places that don't have its poisonous relative, the pipevine swallowtail.)
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2006-07-18 11:13 pm (UTC)if viceroys were more common up here, it would be interesting to see whether they mimicked monarchs here, as well. (the black female form of the eastern yellow tiger swallowtail is less common in places that don't have its poisonous relative, the pipevine swallowtail.)