a tired old lady in NJ

[applestar]

We released our 4th tagged butterfly -- our first male (first year recognizing male vs. female so we're kind of excited). My 9 yr old told him to "go find a nice female" as he flew off. LOL He flew off with his wings flashing brightly in the sun.

Shortly after that, we saw a female Monarch float into our milkweed patch. Maybe it was the contrast, but when we approached to see if she was one of ours, her wings seemed badly faded -- she hardly fluttered her wings, just gliding along, and only ponderously beating her wings here and there. Even so, she was busy checking every plant, laying her eggs. My daughter was surprised that the old lady managed to find the stray plants in other flower beds that SHE didn't even know about.

[Mona Miller]

Monarchs have an incredible sense of smell and I've been told can find milkweed like finding a needle in a haystack. Once I was told that they located pots of milkweed placed under a huge pine tree.