It's a Boy!
Our second monarch emerged on Saturday, August 28th at 9:30 a.m. Adam was released at 12:05 pm today in the Children's Butterfly Garden. Much to the delight of the children and adults watching, he sat briefly on a flower before taking off high into the sky. Note the two black dots, one on each hindwing, on the second vein out from the abdomen. These are actually pheromone pouches, but they are not believed functional in monarchs. Males have them; the females do not.

Adam, just before takeoff. 8/28/2006 at 12:05 PM

It's a Girl!
Our first monarch emerged from its chrysalis at 11:15 this morning, Thursday, August 24, 2006. A three year-old patron and his mother witnessed the entire emergence with complete fascination. The monarch has completely unfurled her wings and is resting quietly. During her first twenty-four hours her wings will harden and her eyes, odor receptors (on her antennae), and taste receptors (on her feet) will become fully functional. Eve, as we have named her, will be wing-tagged and released tomorrow morning as part of the University of Kansas Monarch Watch tagging program to collect data about the migration of monarch butterflies.

Eve, just before take off. 8/25/2006 at 10:20 AM

Eve in chrysalis, monarch larva feeding, larva & frass (monarch droppings