The short answer to this is, nothing. Ignoring in this story the wild ups
and downs of Monarch populations in the Northeast even in good times and
the fact that it was prob. an uncommon butterfly prior to European
settlement here, the mimicry system of these two species is Mullerian
rather than Batesian. Say what? Until the 1990s it was thought this mimicry
was Batesian. This is when a palatable species mimics one that is not. The
viceroy was thought to be palatable. However, it turns out is is not. This
system is actually Mullerian, which is mimicry when the species involved
are all unpalatable. So now the question becomes - who mimics whom?!

Just a note that we'd love all of your Monarch and other butterfly
sightings to be added to our amazing new system, e-Butterfly. It is a lot
like eBIrd. Check it out at http://www.e-butterfly.org/.

And we have a great discussion group for butterflies and moths at if anyone
is interested at http://list.uvm.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=VTLEPS.

Kent

Date:    Sun, 7 Sep 2014 20:49:21 +0000
From:    michael T Quinn <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Monaech Viceroy ?

UVB: What effect will the decline in Monarch butterfly numbers have on the
Viceroy butterfly?

Michael T. Quinn

P. O. Box 639
Windsor, VT 05089
802.674.2522

"Only Connect..."
____________________________

Kent McFarland
Vermont Center for Ecostudies
PO Box 420 | Norwich, Vermont 05055
802.649.1431 x2

[image: VCE Logo] <http://www.vtecostudies.org/>
  <http://vtecostudies.wordpress.com/>
<https://www.facebook.com/pages/Vermont-Center-for-Ecostudies/56930912454>
<https://twitter.com/VTEcostudies>

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