It's been a remarkable year for Monarch butterflies! Except, if you look carefully, you'll notice something perplexing. It's not, of course, that monarchs aren't indeed enjoying a rebound year; they happily are. But rather, take a closer look and you'll see that this butterfly isn't, in fact, one of the rebounders... it isn't actually a Monarch at all. Instead, it's a well-crafted mimic known as a Viceroy. I don't know why an overgrown field just below and across the street from the Lantern Hill trailhead is such a Viceroy hotspot, but come August, I can almost guarantee that I'll spot one of the fakers nectaring on flowers and displaying the characteristic orange and black warning colors that tell potential predators: Don't Eat Me, I'm Poisonous. Scientists used to believe that Viceroys were perfectly palatable and co-evolved the colors as a species of subterfuge, but more recent experiments have demonstrated that these butterflies are themselves mildly poisonous. Birds learn this fast and avoid anything looking remotely like a Monarch, even a fake with a giveaway black band on the lower wing.