Monarchs with darker wingtips

[Tim from Winnipeg]

I've noticed that the last few Monarchs that have emerged have had darker wing tips. They are almost maroon or dark red instead of orange. Is it related to cooler temperatures, perhaps? Is it common? I've never really noticed it before.

[Keith Petrosky]

Wow, can you post a pic of the maroon or dark red monarchs!

[psi_chemie]

There seems to be a lot of color shades they come in. I bet it's the milkweed they eat. Some monarchs are pretty dusky, especially females. All the ones I reared off sand/blue vine (what is that species name again.. ?) were mildly orange males and darker females. Alot of the wild ones I tagged were much brighter orange. Some wild males were almost fluorescent orange, even when cloudy. They must have been eating some flaming poisonous milkweed! But really, the lighting and angle has a lot to do with the colors of the wings. At some angles in full sun, there is an irridescent sheen to the whole wing surface.

[Pat]

A lot of my females are noticeably darker, too. They're especially lovely.

[Megathymus ursus]

Hard to say. I have heard of Florida monarchs being darker orange (so said the late Ron Gatrelle), but that would not be an issue in Canada. I doubt milkweed is a factor as long as it is fresh and of good quality.