Tagging a Butterfly!

Last week we learned how to tag a newly hatched monarch butterfly with a little numbered sticker!
Local scientist and butterfly lover Stan Swan held the wings carefully so I could stick the sticker on gently. 
We learned that butterflies that hatch in April know that if they lay their eggs it will get too cold for for the eggs to hatch and complete their life cycle.  Instead the butterflies find a sheltered place to live for the winter and delay laying their eggs until the following Spring. Our butterfly is number 500 and we have entered it's details on a data base so it can be tracked by the New Zealand Monarch Butterfly Trust. We wonder where it will shelter? The trees in Titoki Street and the gardens at Te Omanga Hospice are two places that monarch butterflies like to spend the winter.