Honey bee vs Monarch butterfly
They share the class Insecta but sit in different orders: Honey bee in Hymenoptera, Monarch butterfly in Lepidoptera.
Photo: Didier Descouens · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
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Photo: Didier Descouens · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
What is the difference between a honey bee and a monarch butterfly?
Each point below is worked out from a pair of recorded values.
- They share the class Insecta but sit in different orders: Honey bee in Hymenoptera, Monarch butterfly in Lepidoptera.
- The honey bee is listed as Data Deficient on the IUCN Red List; the monarch butterfly is Least Concern.
- They have been recorded in 91 of the same countries (the honey bee in 213 in total, the monarch butterfly in 97). Shared records include zoos, so this does not mean they meet in the wild.
Side by side
| Honey bee | Monarch butterfly | |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific name | Apis mellifera | Danaus plexippus |
| Family | Apidae | Nymphalidae |
| Order | Hymenoptera | Lepidoptera |
| Weight | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| Length | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| Lifespan | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| Main food | nectar, pollen | Not recorded |
| Habitat | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| Conservation status | Data Deficient | Least Concern |
| Countries recorded | 213 | 97 |
Full record: Honey beeFull record: Monarch butterflyCompare other animals