injured monarchs stuck mating

[wenderwomn@aol.com]

have male and female whose wings got damaged during delivery. one lost a lot of fluid and could not finish its wings the other apparently only had enough fluid to fully enlarge one wing while the other fell short. neither can fly. We put them into a large enclosure and let the other butterflies visit with them for a while before releasing the fully developed ones. they appeared to enjoy the company. We figured we would keep them until they appeared to be uncomfortable and not enjoying themselves. Well to our surprise we found the two of them mating with each other today. The only problem is they seem to be unable to unlock from each other and it has been about at lest 5 hours. we do not want to force them apart of throw a bucket of water on them as we might do to a dog or a cat. and hurt them more. What can we do to help them?

[Mona Miller]

They mate for 24 hours. If you leave them together after they part, the male may try to mate her again.