Monarch Butterfly Eating Milkweed. Join local efforts to plant milkweed in schoolyards libraries and backyards across the usa. Monarch watch free milkweeds for restoration projects monarch joint venture native milkweed campaign.
Other common names depending on region include milkweed common tiger wanderer and black veined brown. The caterpillar of the monarch butterfly eats only milkweed a poisonous plant that should kill it. The monarch butterfly or simply monarch danaus plexippus is a milkweed butterfly subfamily danainae in the family nymphalidae.
Milkweed contains toxins which makes the monarch butterfly unpalatable to most predators.
The monarchs even use aposematic coloration to warn predators that they will be eating a toxic meal should they choose to prey on the orange and black butterfly but if milkweed is so toxic why don t the monarchs. Monarch butterflies need our help. Milkweed is the only plant that monarch caterpillars eat. Milkweed contains toxins which makes the monarch butterfly unpalatable to most predators.