One of the many gorgeous butterflies that were everywhere on my latest hike in Gothe State Forest were the queens (Danaus gilippus). They are yet another one of the many butterflies in the brushfooted butterfly family, which also includes monarchs, gulf fritillaries, and common buckeyes among others. The queens were enjoying quite a few of the many wildflowers that were growing there, but by far their favorites were the blackjack flowers. The butterfly in this photo was flying from flower to flower in a patch of blackjacks. As you can see from the photo, queens are beautifully colored and marked and they move from place to place with a graceful fluttering of their delicate wings. These things alone make them deserving of their royal name, but it is actually their close resemblance to the more well known monarch that is how they came by it.