Life Cycle
Females lay small white eggs singly on plants in the milkweed subfamily (Asclepiadoideae), including Mexican Milkweed, Swamp Milkweed, Desert Milkweed, and Sandhill Milkweed. The egg hatches into a black caterpillar with transverse white stripes and yellow spots, and three pairs of long, black filaments. The caterpillar feeds on the milkweed and sequesters chemicals that make it distasteful to some predators. It then goes through six instars, after which the larva finds a suitable spot to pupate. The adult emerges 7 to 10 days afterwards. D. gilippus has multiple generations a year.
Along with Monarchs, Queen butterflies are susceptible to infection by Ophryocystis elektroscirrha, a protozoan parasite.
Read more about this topic: Queen (butterfly)
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