Need info on monarch butterflies?

Question

Does anyone know if monarch butterflies are male or female or if both sexes are colorful? I was mowing in the back yard and saw two of them tangled together in flight. Were they fighting, or mating? Are they territorial? I ask that because there is one that has been in our yard all summer. I have no clue what category to put this question in.

Answer 1

Hi, here is some information about Monarch Butterflies. I hope it is helpful. I don't know if you are familiar with the Orchard at Altapass it is an apple orchard in Spruce Pine NC; but they have had butterfly releases there and do have a butterfly garden. They have good music on weekends,as well as ice cream, and in August they have a chili cook off. Happy fluttering!
MONARCH BUTTERFLIES
Monarchs migrate, traveling great distances to over winter in a temperate climate. Amazingly enough, not one butterfly makes the entire round-trip journey. In all the world, no butterflies migrate like the Monarchs of North America. They travel much farther than all other tropical butterflies, up to three thousand miles. They are the only butterflies to make such a long, two way migration every year. Amazingly, they fly in masses to the same winter roosts, often to the exact same trees. Their migration is more the type we expect from birds or whales. However, unlike birds and whales, individuals only make the round-trip once. It is their children's grandchildren that return south the following fall.
The life span of the adult Monarch varies, depending on the season in which it emerged from the pupa and whether or not it belongs to a migratory group of Monarchs. Adults that emerged in early summer have the shortest life spans and live for about two to five weeks. Those that emerged in late summer survive over the winter months. The migratory Monarchs, which emerge from the pupa in late summer and then migrate south, live a much longer life, about 8-9 months.
Winter butterflies are sluggish and do not reproduce. In spring they return to summer homes and breed along the way.
Monarchs are found on all continents except the polar regions, wherever milkweed and related plants are found. It also provides the Monarch with an intriguing form of protection, since the milkweed juices assimilated by the Monarch make it poisonous to predatory birds. The beautiful orange color of the Monarch butterfly serves to teach predators that their intended meal might be toxic. Not all milkweeds produce cardiac glycosides, therefore not all Monarchs are poisonous. However, the warning orange color serves to disguise poisonous from the non-toxic Monarch.
Monarchs lay as many as 400 eggs on the underside of a separate leaves of milkweed plants.
The one difference between a male monarch and a female monarch is the scent glands. The male's scent glands are marked by a spot of dark scales in the center of the hind wings, and females have broader black vein lines.
If you molest a Monarch in Pacific Grove, California, you will receive a $500 fine, since they are in danger of extinction.
Mating between adult butterflies occurs throughout the day, with more mating being observed in the mid- to late afternoon.

Answer 2

definite. Raptors can make blunders. If what you said replaced right into a monarch, that kite ought to correctly be in hardship. Even mimics ought to often be possibility-free from predators, yet you would possibly want to do not forget that the poison protection works on generic. So, by what ever mechanism the the raptors use for avoidance, it isn't foolproof and some raptors will be no ones ancestor.