When I got butterflies hatched in the laundry. I would release about 1-4 each day when they were ready to fly.
After a week of doing this, I noticed many other butterflies were hanging around.
With one small female I just got her confident to fly......and the next thing I saw was a huge monarch, twice her size pin her down to the ground. He flew away with her. That evening I saw the same little female sit looking dejected on a plant and I took her in over night. The next day, she spent with a male and then I never saw them again.
Pam
from Auckland NZ