DailyPetPhotography Rearing Monarch Butterflies Part 4 "Chyrsalis to Freedom" by Sunscape
There is nothing like seeing your first caterpillar emerging from the chrysalis stage. I literally felt like a very proud mamma. Watching him come out slowly to reveal his beautiful wings was a sight to behold. I have to say, now that I have reared a dozen of them, I am hooked for life. I even have a large stand of milkweed that I am allowing to grow to assist in sustaining them throughout the life cycle.
Breaking Out!
After 12 days in the chrysalis stage, this young male has decided to emerge.
Pumping Fluid Into Wings
Now that he has fully emerged he will hang here for a couple of hours. He now pumps fluid from his abdomen into his wings which fills them out to their normal size.
Still Pumping Fluid
You can see here in this picture how his abdomen is sliming down as the wings continue to expand.
Almost Expanded
In this photo, you can see that the wings are almost their full size. Note also, that the color of the wings are not as intense as when he first emerged.
Hanging Out To Dry
The Monarch's wings are fully extended at this point. Almost 2 hours have passed and he will continue to hang here to allow his wings to thoroughly dry. When he begins to open and close his wings, over and over again, he is almost ready to release.
A Tripple Birthing
This happened on another day not too long after my first caterpillar hatched. It was so fun to see them all come out together.
Getting Acquainted
It is time to say goodbye to my first butterfly. This was a bittersweet moment as I walked him out to the butterfly garden to feast on some Zinnias.
Taking Cover
As soon as I placed him onto the Zinnia he immediately climbed to the underside of the flower. He stayed there for approximately one hour before he decided to climb back on top. It was only moments later that he flew from flower to flower checking out his surroundings.
Male Monarch
I wanted to share with you how I know that my first butterfly was a male. In this photo, you can see two distinct black dots near the abdomen on the lower wings. This always indicates that the Monarch is a male.
Thank you so much for taking a moment to enjoy my series on rearing Monarch butterflies. If you happened to miss the series you can see the process from egg-gathering to release.
Part 1 - Egg - 2nd Instar
Part 2 - 3rd-5th Instar
Part 3 - Transformation to Chrysalis
Thank you @kona for initiating this #dailypetphotography challenge.
Until next time, this is Sunscape...
Sun. Scape. Ing your day
The life cycle of the delicate butterfly is an amazing process.. Thanks for showing us @sunscape :-)
I agree it is so rewarding to go through it with them. I am hooked for life now.
Well documented! I raise Monarchs too. It is so cool when you see the butterfly actually emerging, but of course, you just blink and you can miss it. LOL!
Wow, seriously, that is awesome. Isn't it just so rewarding to assist them?
It is! I usually try to collect the eggs directly from my milkweed, as I have had some very sad experiences of diseased butterflies when I have tried rearing them from the caterpillars. I did rescue one large caterpillar this year. He was about to be eaten by a brown anole. At least the anole was watching him carefully. Happily he grew into a happy and healthy butterfly!
I just collected a fresh batch of eggs this week. I have never had a sick caterpillar or butterfly. My gardens are alive with so many varieties this year. Have fun with your caregiving.
Yes, they are rarely sick when you collect the eggs, but here we have something called OE which infects butterflies and caterpillars in the wild. They become infected when they eat contaminated milkweed. The most devastating problem is the tachnid fly which lays eggs in the adult caterpillar. It goes on to make a chrysalis, but instead of a butterfly, a host of worms emerge! It’s heartbreaking to see. Then again, that only happens if you bring in an adult caterpillar, which I rarely do now.
I’ve had a couple of butterflies which were infected with OE, so couldn’t fly. They survived a couple of weeks in a butterfly tent with a supply of rotting fruit and sugar water with soy sauce. I would let them out onto the flowers outside when I could watch over them for a little while each day.
Oh my, that sounds so horrific and I would not want to see that. I had read about the fly using them as hosts. But, I have never seen anything. I collected more eggs this week and some are already hatched and doubling in size. I am happy to hear that you love them so much too and care for them in such a loving way. xoxoxo
It doesn’t happen when you collect only eggs, so you shouldn’t see it unless you come across it in the wild. It’s pretty creepy to see.
BEAUTIFUL 😊
Thank you very much!
Hi @sunscape,
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Wonderful captures! Amazing photos, this is fabulous!
Thank you Keith, I so adore raising them. I just had 3 eggs hatch today, so the feeding frenzy begins. :-)
I remember seeing them come out in our garden when I was young such a cool sight to experience
Hello Jay, it sure is a sight to behold. I just love caring for them. I had 3 eggs hatch today, so exciting.
WOw another three today that is so cool, I did it once when growing up where we hatched a few was such a cool and educational experience ;)
It sure is fun to watch them. Someday I am hoping to due dozens as I find the eggs.
that would be soo cool good luck with that