Did you know there’s a way to tell if a Monarch is Male or Female Monarch as early as the Chrysalis stage!?
It’s True!
Here are closeups of two Monarch Butterfly Chrysalis:
The area you will focus on is right below the two black dots
Can you spot the difference?
The male on the left has a dot and if you look closely, what looks like a little smile below it. On the other hand, the female on the right has a straight vertical line (instead of the dot) which touches the horizontal line below.
It’s important NOT to handle a Chrysalis until at least 24 hours after forming.
Sexing the Adults is a lot easier
but did you know you can tell if it’s a male or female even with the wings closed?
First with the wings open
The male is on top and the female is on the bottom.
Here’s how to tell:
The male on top has two black dots opposite each other (only the left side is clearly visible in this pic), and the female below has no black dots. In addition, the inner lines of the male are much thinner than the thicker lines of the female.
Next with the wings closed (slightly more difficult)
In both pictures, the male is on top
Here’s how to tell:
The best word to describe it is “smudge”. The female has a cleaner black line, whereas the male has a smudge where the black line “leaks” into the orange a bit.
Can you see it?
Here’s a Quiz.
Can you tell how many males and how many females?
Let us know in the the reply box below and we will let you know how you did!
