Queen - Alabama Butterfly Atlas

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Queens are year-round residents only in the Deep South, moving up the coast as warm weather and host-plant distribution permit. In Alabama, they are uncommon summer and fall residents, seldom venturing past coastal counties.

Like their Monarch cousins, Queens are considered to be "milkweed butterflies," and milkweeds are members of the Dogbane (Apocynaceae) family. But Queens also use other members of the Dogbane family as their caterpillar hosts. In Alabama, in addition to milkweed, they also eat Gulf Coast Swallow Wort. Caterpillars safely ingest the toxic cardiac glycosides found within Dogbane family plants and retain them into adulthood. They derive some protection from vertebrate predators who find the chemicals distasteful and sickening. Both caterpillars and butterflies advertise their bad taste with warning coloration.

Male Queens are highly specialized in the art of seduction. Dark scent patches dot their hindwings and disperse an alluring pheromone called danaidone, which induces females to mate. Synthesized from plants containing poisonous pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs), danaidone is stored in male Queens' wing patches. In addition, male abdomens contain bristly structures called hairpencils. By extruding these hairpencils, males access danaidone and then apply it to female antennae. The pheromone convinces a female Queen to mate, and during the process, it is transferred into her body with the sperm packet. Its poisonous properties are subsequently incorporated into her eggs. Because danaidone is crucial to the courtship process, suitable habitat must contain PA-producing plants like thoroughworts, rattleboxes, heliotropes, and groundsel bushes. Male Queens not only drink from their flowers, but also probe for PA remnants on dried stems and spent blossoms.

Distribution and Abundance

A dot on the county map indicates that there is at least one documented record of the species within that county. In some cases, a species may be common throughout the county, in others it may be found in only a specific habitat. The High Count information shows the highest numbers recorded for this species as well as when and where they occurred.

The sightings bar graphs depict the timing of flight(s) within each of three geographic regions. Place your cursor on a bar within the graph to see the number of individuals recorded during that period.

The abundance calendar displays the total number of individuals recorded within each week of the month. Both the graphs and the calendar are on based data collection that began in 2000.

The records analyzed here are only a beginning. As more data is collected, these maps and graphs will paint a more accurate picture of distribution and abundance in Alabama. Submit your sightings to albutterflyatlas@gmail.com.

Sightings in the following counties: Baldwin, Mobile

Sightings in the past 5 years
Sightings in the past 5 - 10 years
Sightings more than 10 years ago

High count(s):

26 - Baldwin - 9/2/2021
12 - Mobile - 7/2/2020
7 - Mobile - 10/21/2015

View county names by moving the mouse over a county or view a map with county names

Jan				Feb				Mar				Apr				May				Jun				Jul				Aug				Sep				Oct				Nov				Dec
1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4
		1									1										2	1		14	5		4	2	7	2	8	30		10	1	1	8	9	1					4		1

Habitat

Sunny, open places, both natural and disturbed, along and near the coast. Will visit gardens.

Host Plants

Milkweeds and other plants within the Dogbane (Apocynaceae) family are the sole hosts throughout the range.

The following have been documented in Alabama:

For more information about these plants, please visit the Alabama Plant Atlas using the links above.

Landscaping Ideas

Planting native milkweeds in the landscape provides larval food for Queens and Monarchs. Nectar sources are also important, so make sure that there are late summer and fall flowers in your garden. Because danaidone, a pheromone derived from plant chemicals, is crucial to the courtship process, suitable habitat must contain plants like thoroughworts, rattleboxes, heliotropes, and groundsel bushes that produce pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PA's). Keep in mind that male Queens not only drink from their flowers, but also probe for PA remnants on dried stems and spent blossoms.

***Note: Tropical/Mexican Milkweed (Asclepias curassavica) is controversial among butterfly enthusiasts. It is a non-native, tropical species that is commonly available in the nursery trade. Monarchs and Queens readily use it as a host, but some research suggests that its longer (almost year-round) growing season may cause Monarchs to interrupt normal fall migration patterns to remain and breed where this milkweed is actively growing. In addition, native milkweeds naturally die back in the fall, breaking the OE parasite's cycle (see above). Since Tropical Milkweed continues to flourish, Monarchs may continue to breed on it, allowing OE to go unchecked. If you grow Tropical Milkweed, either remove it or cut it to the ground in early fall. This will discourage Monarchs from interrupting their migration to breed and will help to break the OE cycle. Please note also that Mexican/Tropical Milkweed aggressively reseeds in parts of Alabama and is classified as invasive in Florida. For these reasons, we only encourage and endorse the planting of Alabama's native milkweeds.