Interesting link gb - I didn't know there was an easy way to tell male from female. But what I meant about color is less subtle than that - you can see another butterfly to the right of the orange one in that last pictue. The colors on the one on the right run from a pale yellowish color to orange. I'm more used to seeing monarchs like that than ones that are some solidly orange. We're about to take the dogs for a walk by the lake, near one of the points whre the butterflies depart to cross the lake. We're hoping there will be a lot of them there....

"Plant it and they will come." I started out by planting a few milkweeds late in the summer of 2005. I think I got them out too late for that year, but I had Monarchs show up here the next summer and raised 70 cats. Last year I raised over 500, so we were really busy last year releasing them here! They haven't shown up yet this year. If you have the milkweed planted and those butterflies are known to visit your part of the state, then what they have to do is find you and lay eggs on your milkweed. If you want to keep the butterflies there at your place (rather than them going elsewhere for food), make sure to plant nectar plants for them. Cathy

Yes, I've tried that like I read about in "The Family Butterfly Book" by Rick Mikula - to hold the pair by their wings and rub their abdomens together - but with no luck. Actually, when the VF's mated, I had little to do with it. I had put the male next to the female, the male crawled a little ways away, then he came back "under" one of the female's wings, and from there reached up and connected with the female (I had tried hand pairing repeatedly before, and was trying whatever I could think of). -Jmcat

Runmede, Thanks for sharing this information, and thanks for all the hours you've contributed to getting the word out and working to develop habitat to support the Monarchs. If we each could educate just a few close friends or colleagues and encourage them to mention these issues among their aquaintences, then a general consciousness of the problem would grow. Already, we've seen the growth of native plant businesses and the increased use of native plants in the traditional gardens. We just need to expand on the progress that has been made and keep building up momentum. Projects like yours will help immensely. Many of us don't have as many hours to devote as you do, but we can still help. I mentioned the Monarch plight during devotions at the start of our weekly business meeting. I also gave a brief explanation of how/why I garden the way I do at my office party, for a few folk who were hanging around by me. I get a chance to talk to patients and families on a daily basis, and once in awhile we get on to the subject of gardening or scary environmental changes--especially with cancer patients. Of course, I deal with whatever the patient needs, but if an obvious opening occurs in a conversation, I mention it as casual conversation. I have learned that broaching these issues needs to be done with extreme caution and sensitivity. The last thing we need to do is come across as superior and judgmental. I find the easiest way to be gentle is to just describe how I started gardening and reading on line and discovered how fun it is to observe the increase in the diversity of bugs and birds I saw in my garden in a short time. And mention how relatively carefree native plants are, since they evolved to exist in each region without the support of humans and irrigation or fertilizers. Depending on the audience, then you can observe how much less expensive it is to maintain a native garden patch than it is a manicured lawn--no watering, mowing, or weed killers. Plus, you get butterflies and hummingbirds! I should stop wandering. This is just how I'm treating myself Christmas morning. I'm procrastinating getting work done, which is due by the 31st. But, this feels at least as important, from a global sense. And I've already accomplished much of what work needs. Hope I've provided a bit of inspiration for some of you. I'm off to check in with the rest of my favorite forums. Martha