I also have 2 5th instar 'pillars that are going to be ready to chrysalis very soon. I can't wait to have an apartment full of butterflies! All the chrysalis are a day apart. So I could have a new butterfly every day. The process from chrysalis to butterfly can take 10 to 14 days. The chrysalis is also completely transparent! When you see the chrysalis turn black and orange you know it will only be a matter of time till you have a new butterfly!
Monarch butterflies are very easy to sex. Males have a dot (pouch) on each lower wing where as the females do not. Females also have much thicker wing veins.
MALE
Notice the 2 dots! This can only be seen when the wings are open.
FEMALE
No dots but thicker veining.
There is also a way to sex your butterfly while it is still in the chrysalis. This can be a little tricky if you don't have a magnifying glass but it can be done.
Out of the 3 healthy chrysalis, I believe I have 2 females and 1 male. Here's how to tell what sex your chrysalis is...
"Surrounding the cremaster (the structure from which the pupa hangs) are a series of rings, called abdominal sternites. Within the first ring (9th abdominal sternite) are several paired black dots next to the cremaster; turn the pupa so that you are looking at these dots. If the monarch is a female, the ring adjacent to the 9th sternite will have a line dissecting it; this line (indicated by the arrows on the photo and diagram below) will be centered between the pairs of dots. Male monarch pupae do not have this line."
When you look at you chrysalis you can also identify the parts of the butterfly.
The cremaster is a spiny appendage at the end of the abdomen. The Monarch hooks its cremaster into a silk pad spun by the larva just before pupation; it will hang from this until it emerges as an adult.
All this information can be found on Monarch Watch.
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