[3] Its wings feature an orange and black pattern, and over most of its range it is a Müllerian mimic[4] with the monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus).

It was originally believed that the viceroy was a Batesian mimic of the three other species, and presumed edible or only mildly unpalatable to predators, but this has since proven not to be true.

Its easternmost range extends along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of North America from Nova Scotia into Texas.

Three lineages of mimetic butterflies occur in North America and the evolution of mimicry may have played a large role in the diversification of this group.

[10] Based on crude divergence rate calculations,[11] the colonization of the Nearctic Leminitis dates back approximately four million years.

The position of the poplar admiral (L. populi), a Palearctic species, in a phylogenetic tree confirms that the poplar is the closest existing relative of the Nearctic taxa and is consistent with the theory that the host plant had a large effect on the evolution of North American admirals.

[9] The phylogenies produced indicate that a white-banded ancestor similar to the species L. arthemis[12] established itself in North America and resulted in several major lineages, three of which involved mimicry independently of each other.

Color warnings in viceroy butterflies have been shaped by natural selection in an evolutionary relationship between prey and predator.

[14] It had been long accepted that the viceroy practiced Batesian mimicry, with the monarch and the queen serving as models.

Experimental evidence has shown that avian predators express aversion to the queen butterfly after being exposed to viceroys.

Instead, mathematical models have suggested that the queen enjoys the benefits of mimicry at the viceroy's expense, and that the model-mimic dynamic between the two should be switched.

Mimetic evolution also involved direct selection with the model acting as a "starting block" for the mimic to evolve against.

Eventually, the mimetic population undergoes phenotypic fixation, usually at a point where the wing pattern and colors of the mimic have reached the closest superficial resemblance of its model.

Determining what part of the butterfly genome controls wing color and pattern is also a major component that must be taken into account when trying to understand the evolution of mimicry.

[21] This tight-linked area of wing pattern genes explains how mimetic phenotypes are not broken up during recombination during sexual reproduction.

Color polymorphism is hypothesized to be affected by interaction between the viceroy, monarch and queen's overlapping environments.