Madame Monarch

This female Monarch Butterfly is happily sipping nectar from a coneflower in my friend's gorgeous garden. Adults will feed on a variety of flowers but if you want to help the species, plant milkweed! It's the host plant for their babies.

How do I know this one is a female? Males have thinner veins and two distinct black spots on their hindwings — these spots are made of specialized scales that produce a chemical used during courtship in many species of butterflies and moths, although such a chemical doesn't seem to be important in monarch courtship. Females have thicker, darker veins and no hindwing spots.

Next time you spot a monarch, see if you can tell who’s who!

 

This original painting is:

• a handmade item
• 12"x12"x.75" unframed, 13.5"x13.5"x1.25" in frame   
• painted on stretched canvas 
• signed by the artist

* NOTE: Image colors may vary somewhat from the original due to natural display differences in computer monitors