While standing in the garden watching an orange barred sulphur depositing eggs on my Bahama cassia tree, a monarch pair flew by grabbing my attention. I of course followed the pair while it landed on my neighbor’s tree.

I have read that mating monarchs can remain together for 16 hours or longer. It’s not until the very end of their attachment that the sperm is transferred to them female. The fertilization of the egg does not occur until right before the egg is laid on the host plant.

During mating, the male will use its claspers located on the end of its abdomen, to attach to the female’s ostium bursa.

My house seems to be a magnet for caterpillars, as I have found tons of chrysalis everywhere, and not just monarchs. If you look in the background, there is an empty gulf fritillary chrysalis.