It's a male (at least the first one is). I can see those little scent glands. He's so beautiful! I see them sometimes, but not as often as I'd like. Usually I see them in the fall, so they must pass through here on their migration. I've seen them fly over the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway before during the spring and fall. This post was edited by alex928 on Sun, Jul 27, 14 at 17:41

Wow, fantastic photos. I've often wondered what these little guys look like; now I have an excellent reference. I agree, Sherry, they do look like the pull toys for dogs! :-) I've read these little cats can decimate wild milkweed. I often wonder if they are another reason the little wild 'Red Ring' milkweed is having such a time surviving in the wild. Mary

Well I've been checking and no caterpillars to be seen. Wonder what happened to them? I had picked one off to show my husband so maybe scared them away? Lol. He suggested the birds might have gotten them but they eat the milkweed to make themselves unpalatable so am doubtful about that. Unless they are at the chrysalis stage but they certainly weren't on the plant for long; I keep a pretty watchful eye and hadn't spotted them before. Oh well, will just have to wait for next year!

Congrats on your Monarchs! You're lucky if you can leave yours outside without something getting after them. I guarantee if I'd leave the ones here outside, something would get them...flies, wasps, spiders, assassin bugs, hover flies, you name it. I have no idea if hover flies predate aphids or not, but I do know that they get Monarch caterpillars because I witnessed it one year. When I was going around gathering up eggs and cats, I saw a hoverfly with a half-eaten Monarch cat. I think it saw me because it immediately flew off hanging onto the other half; I guess it wanted to finish its meal. Ever since that, I don't like hoverflies. Actually, I guess I don't like much of anything that gets after the Monarch cats. Since my daughter is raising all of the Monarch cats this year (along with Pipevine Swallowtails, Giant Swallowtails, Black Swallowtails, and two Cecropia Moths), that frees up a lot of my time and I'm able to check our milkweed plants every day for eggs (I also find caterpillars that I had missed the time before). So I guess I don't give the predators much chance to grab any Monarch eggs or cats. Checking the plants every day also allows me to spot an oleander aphid problem before it gets out of hand. Any that I find I squish. I, of course, check first to make sure there are no Monarch eggs or cats in those areas. I hope that your Monarchs do well. Cathy