SOUTH AUSTRALIAN BUTTERFLIES

Danaus plexippus plexippus (Linnaeus)   (Monarch or Wanderer)

Extruded hair pencil at the rear end of the abdomen of the male Wanderer.
These pencils dispense a characteristic scented pheromone, believed to be mainly used during courtship
which masks the pheromones of the unmated female from other males in the vicinity

Photography by R. Grund