10 Poisonous Butterflies 4K

10 Poisonous Butterflies
10. Monarch
This butterfly is notorious for the beauty of its orange, white and black wings, its long migration, and its toxicity. The butterfly lays its eggs almost exclusively on milkweed plants, which are poisonous. As the caterpillar eats the leaves of the plant, it collects toxins called cardiac glycosides which persist mostly in the wings and the abdomen of the adult. Some clever predators seem to know this and avoid those parts of the butterfly. A monarch butterfly that feeds from butterfly weed, which is a popular plant people put in their gardens to attract butterflies also collects toxins.
9. Red Lacewing
This beautiful butterfly of Asia and southeast Asia also has wings that are colored orange, black and white like the monarch, though the pattern on the wings is different. Still, the colors should warn predators that this insect is toxic. The caterpillar feeds on the passionflower and is armed with venomous spines.
8. Zebra Longwing
This long-lived, long-winged butterfly gets both its long life and its toxin from the pollen it eats and the poison it stores as a caterpillar as it eats the passionflower. Pollen is converted in its body to toxins called cyanogenic glycosides. This not only protects the butterfly but can protect the caterpillar even before it’s born, as the female butterfly redirects her toxins to her reproductive system when pollen levels are low.
7. Pipevine Swallowtail
The glorious pipevine swallowtail is one of the most toxic of the poisonous butterflies. This big butterfly of North America and Central America has a wingspan of 3 to 4.5 inches. Its forewings are black, but its scalloped and tailed hindwings are iridescent blue with white spots on the male. The underside of the hind wings has beautiful orange spots on a blue background.
6. The Postman
Like the zebra longwing, which is a relative, the postman butterfly eats pollen, a rare behavior in butterflies. Another butterfly whose caterpillars eat the poisonous passionflower, the postman shares the zebra’s basic shape, but its wings come in gorgeous patterns of red and black or yellow and black, and there are different morphs depending on where the butterfly is found. Because it’s toxic, many butterflies mimic the postman and fly with it to give them some protection from predators. The postman is not only bad tasting but has a strong smell which even humans can sense.
5. Queen Butterfly
he queen butterfly is another milkweed butterfly, though the levels of alkaloids and cardenolides that its caterpillar stores and passes on to the adult can vary. This is because the queen caterpillar does not have to feed exclusively on the poisonous milkweed but can thrive on plants such as honey vine and dogbane
4. Atala Butterfly
This little butterfly is unusual because the male’s abdomen is brilliant red, and its wings are a metallic blue with metallic blue dots edging the hindwings. Its coloration and the bright red and yellow colors of its caterpillar warn predators that it’s bad tasting. It is a member of the Eumaeus genus, which is famous because a good number of its members are toxic.
3. Common Indian Crow
The common Indian crow resembles the queen and does belong to the same family. But its wings are black and more elongated, and it is a bit bigger with a wingspan of 3.25 to 3.75 inches. This butterfly gets its poison from oleander and milkweed. Like other toxic butterflies, it is mimicked by others that are perfectly edible, including the Malabar raven, the great eggfly, and the common mime.
2. Birdwing Butterflies
hese are some of the largest butterflies on earth, and most of them are poisonous. They are also astonishingly beautiful, and their beauty has made them the target of collectors. This, in turn, has caused many to be listed as endangered. Birdwings are native to the rainforests of Asia, Australia, and Southeast Asia.
1. Papilio Antimachus
The giant African swallowtail, with a wingspan of between 7.1 and 9.8 inches, is the largest butterfly in Africa. It’s also one of the most poisonous butterflies on earth. Bearing ornate wings of orange and black that may remind you of a tiger, this butterfly is found in the Central African rainforest and has no natural predators
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