Apparently female monarchs are often reluctant mates which means the male will very often divebomb her and knock her to the ground. He has two hooks at the end of his abdomen that are used to secure the female in his grip; that's if he is successful in doing so as the female will often extend her abdomen vertically making it difficult for the male to attach himself - it is estimated only 30% of mating attempts are successful. Males and females both mate more than once.
When a male secures himself to a female other males in the area may exploit the situation and pile on as can be seen in this animated image made from several photos I took the other day. There were 4 monarchs in on this action. That poor female!
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Monarch butterfly mating frenzy
Let's see how many more we can pile on here. |
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