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LIFE IS SHORT .......

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especially for a butterfly who could not fly!

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... yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. James 4:14 English Standard Version (ESV)

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On several occasions I thought she was going to be able to fly in spite of her crumpled wings. On Sunday she had been fluttering her wings quite a bit, so I brought her outside and placed her on a flower while I sat close by and watched that none of the anoles hanging around would take the opportunity to grab her. She didn't fly, but did seem to enjoy the sunlight and the flowers. I had kept a pot of flowers n her tent, but she had been unable to climb up to them, so instead I picked a small bouquet and placed it in a pill bottle. Her interest was more in fruit and the sugary water and juice I provided – because it was likely easier for her to feed from it.

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An afternoon in the sun (Take note of her wavy wings. They should have been straight.)

Image ©Diane Macdonald. All Rights Reserved.
^{Click on the image to view full screen!}

Camera	Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Lens	EF100mm f/2.8 Macro USM
Exposure	1/60 sec; f/5.6; ISO 800
Post-processing	Adobe Photoshop® CC 2017, Adobe Camera Raw

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Finally on Valentine's Day she gave up the fight. When we found her in the morning we thought she had already gone. Her wings were spread and she looked very peaceful resting on the Gatorade/sugar syrup/soy sauce soaked cotton balls in the upturned bottle lid. I went to get my camera to take some last pictures of her, but when I looked through the macro lens I was surprised to see her proboscis stuck into the cotton ball and her little mouth moving! She did not move from her spot on the edge of the bottle cap all day though, and was unable to climb onto our fingers as she had been doing. By evening she was truly gone. She had lived a short 5 days as a butterfly!

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Resting on her feeding station

Image ©Diane Macdonald. All Rights Reserved.
^{Click on the image to view full screen!}

Camera	Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Lens	EF100mm f/2.8 Macro USM
Exposure	1/160 sec; f/7.1; ISO 1600
Post-processing	Adobe Photoshop® CC 2017, Adobe Camera Raw

Feeding for the last time

Image ©Diane Macdonald. All Rights Reserved.
^{Click on the image to view full screen!}

Camera	Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Lens	EF100mm f/2.8 Macro USM
Exposure	1/125 sec; f/13; ISO 1600
Post-processing	Adobe Photoshop® CC 2017, Adobe Camera Raw

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For those who have not been following, you can read my previous posts with the links provided following this, but here is a short recap. On January 9, I found a Monarch caterpillar in my yard – an unusual thing, because the last of the Monarchs should have migrated to Mexico in the fall! I placed her in a butterfly tent on our outdoors screened patio with some milkweed for her to feed on. Three days later on January 12 she formed a chrysalis. Because we've had a rather cold winter with some below freezing nights here in North Florida, I brought her indoors when temperatures were in the fifties or below. The chrysalis stage is normally 10 days to two weeks, but because of the cooler temperatures, she remained in that stage for four weeks. She emerged from the chrysalis overnight on February 10, but had fallen to the floor of the tent where she was unable to stand and stretch her wings. I'm not sure if her wings were deformed in the chrysalis, or if they just hardened before she could get them stretched, but either way she was unable to fly, but just walked around her butterfly tent.

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You can read the full account of the monarch butterfly in these posts:
A monarch Caterpillar In winter
Monarch Butterfly Chrysalis
Monarch Butterfly
Monarch Butterfly Surprising Update

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Thanks for taking the time to read this! I appreciate it. Please check out my photography-101 account here and Follow for photography tips and tutorials if you wish.

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