all was quiet for a month. i saw a few monarchs passing through. but today this lady fluttered around for about an hour. i sat quietly and watched her as she drank nectar and went from leaf to leaf laying eggs. it was the first time i got to see this happening. first, i identified her as a female. then i could see her land on a leaf, and tuck her abdomen on the underside of the leaf as she deposited her eggs. she will deposit about one hundred eggs.
monarch butterflies use a combination of visual and chemical cues to find milkweed. once they land on a plant, they use sensory organs on their feet and heads to tell them if it is a milkweed, and the quality of the milkweed. she must have liked my milkweed.
i will now go out and go on a monarch egg hunt :)
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