If you are a monarch butterfly, you already know this: common milkweed is in bloom. It’s a robust perennial that can grow up to six feet tall, so it’s no shrinking violet, it’s rather “in your face.”
When broken the hairy stems produce a milky, white latex that looks like Elmer’s glue and tastes like my homemade gravy.
Monarch butterflies are foul-tasting, even poisonous. (I have never worked up the courage to eat a monarch butterfly to test this, maybe someday I will.)
Monarch caterpillars eat milkweed leaves because it renders them unpalatable, much like my gravy. Blue jays know this and avoid the bright orange and black lepidopterans like they were bad restaurants on the wrong side of town. The kind of places you used to frequent at 3 a.m. when you were in college because you didn't know any better.
The insect’s toxicity is due to the presence of “cardenolide aglycones” in their bodies, which the caterpillars ingest as they feed on the plants.
Milkweed likes to grow in sandy soils, basking in full sun. The photo was taken in the plaza at Ijams Nature Center.
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My oh my but I do enjoy your blog! And syncronicity abounds; just last week I was reading about Monarchs, Milkweed and Grosbeaks. Seems the Black-headed variety of Grosbeak (and oddly, also the Black-backed Oriole) is able to feast on the butterflies to no avail!
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing you could at least taste one and suffer no ill-effects. If you really wanted to, I mean.
[Winces as tongue puckers]
Beverly
Hello again Beverly!
ReplyDeleteWince not. I've yet to eat a monarch, although I have knowingly eaten other insects.
The two birds you mentioned are not found in my part of the world. But I do wonder if I have a species of bird that does eat monarchs. I'm not sure. I'll have to do some research.
Many, many thanks for reading.
Stephen Lyn