The Making Of A Monarch

In one of the most amazing life cycles on the planet, this butterfly gets its wings.

- Jill Staake

It begins with a whirl of wings in the heat of the summer sun. As a female monarch sips nectar from a wildflower, a male hovers nearby. A pheromone is released from tiny black scent glands on his lower wings in hopes that she will accept his advances. He lingers until she perches on a leaf, a clear invitation. The two butterflies join together at the tips of their abdomens and stay that way for several hours until he is certain that no other male monarch will take his place.