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Monarchs feed almost exclusively upon plants in the milkweed family, and toxic chemical compounds (cardiac glycosides) from the plants give the insect an unpleasant taste. The black and yellow stripes on the caterpillar and the striking black and orange colours of the adult serve as a warning to potential predators: "You don't want to eat me." Predators quickly learn to leave the Monarch alone. Another butterfly, the Viceroy, mimics the adult colours and pattern of the Monarch in an effort to fool predators into thinking it, too, tastes bad, even though it does not feed upon milkweed and therefore does not contain the bad-tasting compounds.

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Why does the monarch Butterfly taste bad?

Monarch butterflies taste bad because they store toxins called cardiac glycosides from the milkweed plants they eat as caterpillars. These toxins make them unpalatable to predators and help protect them from being eaten.


Do you capitalize Monarch Butterfly or Monarch butterfly?

Monarch butterfly. The term "monarch" is not a proper noun, so it should not be capitalized.


Which behavior does the viceroy use to deter birds that would otherwise eat it?

Viceroy butterflies are not poisonous, but they look just like poisonous monarch butterflies.


How does the monarch butterfly use coloration to protect or conceal themselves?

A Monarch butterfly does not want to conceal itself. It wants all potential predators to notice it and not mistake it for any other type of butterfly. The reason for this is that Monarch apparently taste terrible due to it's diet of milkweed when a caterpillar. Once a predator eats one it never wants to eat another. So the butterflies want to warn off the predators. Viceroy butterflies have noticed this and have adopted the Monarchs coloration. They are essentially saying to the predators "Hey! I look like a Monarch Butterfly so I probably taste bad. Leave me alone and go catch something tasty!"


How does a Viceroy Butterfly mimics a Monarch Butterfly?

Butterflies are harmless. No American Lepidoptera is known to be poisonous to man. I am familiar with the Monarch, Red Admiral and other types. they are harmless and beautiful insects not pesky (Bugs). The Monarch butterfly is poisonous to some animals. The poisons in their bodies is very distasteful to many predators. The viceroy and monarch were once thought to exhibit Batesian mimicry where a harmless species mimics a toxic species. Studies conducted in the early 1990's suggest that the viceroy and the monarch are actually examples of Mullerian mimicry where two equally toxic species mimic each other to the benefit of each. Just goes to show you there's always something new to discover in the natural world!