He was a perfect male who emerged from his chrysalis later yesterday and remained indoors overnight.
Today, mid-morning, I tagged and released him into a perfect sunny day with a light breeze.
He remained on a Mexican Sunflower, in the sunlight for about an hour, and at 10.30am he took his first flight and landed high in one of our trees.
I recorded the tagging on the Moths and Butterflies NZ Trust website and will keep a watch on the website to see if anyone else sights my boy.
You may recall that I wrote a post about tagging, recently. I won't repeat the post, here, however here's a link for you to read it and learn all about tagging Monarchs in New Zealand.
Click here.... IT'S TAGGING TIME FOR NZ MONARCHS
If you happen to see a tagged Monarch, try to take a photo of it with the tag clearly showing (this is the best way to read the number) then go to the website of the Moths and Butterflies NZ Trust and report the sighting on the appropriate page. It's really easy to do.
Click on the picture below and report your sighting.....