Queen Butterfly vs Monarch: How to Tell Them Apart

They share the same milkweed, the same stripes, and the same orange — no wonder queen butterflies get mistaken for monarchs constantly. Even an iPhone once ID’d a queen caterpillar as a black swallowtail. (It lied. This is a Queen.) Here’s how to tell them apart at every stage.

Watch: monarch vs queen — can you tell the difference?

The Caterpillars

Count the ‘tentacles’ (filaments). A monarch caterpillar has two pairs. A queen caterpillar has THREE pairs — the middle pair sits right behind the head and is often flushed red — and her yellow markings form bolder oval patches.

The Butterflies

A monarch is bright orange with thick black veins, and its white spots live inside the black borders. A queen is darker — mahogany-orange — with thin veins and white spots sprinkled across the orange itself. Flip a male over (gently): queens carry a black scent spot on one hindwing vein.

The Chrysalises

Honestly? Nearly identical jade-green jewels — queens occasionally blush pink. Even experts shrug at this stage; wait for the butterfly.

Now see the queen’s whole story in Queen Butterfly Life Cycle — and bring her home with How to Attract Queen Butterflies to Your Garden.