African Monarch Butterfly and caterpillar

African Monarch (Nymphalidae subfamily Danainae – Danaus chrysippus aegyptius)

They are common in South Africa and are found in almost all types of habitat except the desert.

Of medium size, males and females can be differentiated by the number of black spots on their hind wing – males have 4 and females 3.

They mostly feed on Milkweed plants which makes them poisonous to predators and as such, are left alone.

Because of this, there are a lot of other butterflies which mimic them in looks in order to be less desirable to predators too. Clever things!! J