Allegheny Monkeyflower

Bumblebees visit the flowers for nectar. They are one of the few insects that are strong enough to force their way into the partially closed throat of the corolla. The caterpillars of the moth, Elaphria chalcedona (Chalcedony Midget), and caterpillars of the butterfly, Junonia coenia (Buckeye), feed on the foliage. In the northern half of Illinois, where Chelone glabra (White Turtlehead) is the primary host plant, later instars of the butterfly Euphydryas phaeton (Baltimore) sometimes migrate to feed on Monkey Flower and other wetland plants. An oligophagous aphid, Aphis mimuli, uses Monkeyflower as a summer host plant. Little appears to be known about this plant's ecological relationships with vertebrate animals, although it is sometimes large enough to provide protective cover in wetlands.