Chrysalises, Day by Day

9/22/2019

Another Butterfly Is Born!

Sept. 29, 2019 A Second Monarch Hatched, This Time
Recorded on Camera!

From Chrysalis Number Nine. A male, we named him Buddy

Today, at about 9:30, we had a second eclosure, from chrysalis number nine (note the empty husk behind it in the top photo). We named him Buddy, since he was transformed on the leaf of the Buddleia plant. When he was found (Stephanie can sex butterflies now, bless her), he had already emerged and was inflating his wings. He rested, stretched, flexed, dried himself out on the leaves, and flew off about 10:40.
Our thanks to Katie, Gretchen (who took these wonderful photos!), Stephen, and Annis for coming out and helping document the great event. As you can see below, we had a crowd enjoying this fascinating natural phenomenon.
Yesterday was great, knowing one had hatched. But to actually see the magnificent new Monarch, perfect and beautiful, fresh from the chrysalis gives us all chills and goosebumps. When we started this, we never imagined we would be so blessed.

September 28, 2019 In Nature, Every Day is a Battle...

But Today We Won One!!!!

Number One, Stephen, has eclosed (successfully hatched from the chrysalis) this morning!!! The picture above shows the escaped chrysalis, now transparent. A miracle and a joy! Stephanie said, "I am stunned and thrilled. I am. I am overwhelmed. I never dreamed we would make it to a hatched butterfly. I never dreamed we would find a caterpillar. Stephen has flown! We had eighteen caterpillars, 11 chrysalises, and one had made it through. It's unbelievable!"
It had been a rough couple days, a harsh lesson in all the hazards that can put an end to a chrysalis. We lost Confucius, which looked like a success story, and number seven, that of the black trapezoid, apparently to squirrels or some other predator. Others were showing more sign of infection with virus or parasites, and were certainly doomed. As we watched them fall one by one, we were truly worried. But one got through, and there is no greater gift after the effort we put in this year.
Thank you everyone for all your enthusiasm and joy in support of this effort!

September 26, 2019 One Down, Others Soldiering On

A rainstorm, or a critter, knocked down one of the milkweed plants, the one that held Number Two, and it was lost. No remains found. The others continue on, but we still don't know exactly which are healthy and developing normally, and which may be compromised.
We cannot wait for nature to tell us the answers.

September 25, 2019 Unique Darkening Patterns emerge

A Monarch chrysalis develops over the course of about two weeks. We know that near the end of that cycle, a chrysalis turns black, then becomes transparent and shows signs of the butterfly within. We know our chrysalises to be about 10-12 days old, but not all with certainty, so could off by +/- a day or two. And although we have looked at way too many Youtube videos to see the changing patterns over days, for some reason all the videos skip from beginning to end, showing nothing of what happens in between.
What we have seen is the appearance of dark patches, but no two exactly alike. There is also, just under the gold stripe, a trapezoidal shape that in some is a lighter green, but in one has turned dramatically dark. We don't know what all this means, if all this is healthy natural variation, or if some are suffering complications. The next few days will tell.
The gallery below represents all of the Chrysalises as they appear today, Wednesday September 25. Put your mouse on the picture to see the name or number. Number four was lost.

Stephen, Number One

Number Two

Confucius, Number Three

Number Five (Four was lost)

Sept. 22, 2019: Over the past week, we have found 8 previously undiscovered chrysalises, although one was found already compromised, dead, and another disappeared, we presume in the jaws of some predator as no remains were wound underneath the Joe-Pye Weed where it had hung.

Of course the good news is that we still have eight developing chrysalises moving forward, which we are visiting every day. Two of these, our first one, which we named Stephen after our neighbor who discovered it as a "J," and our third one, Confucius, which Stephanie tracked for two days as it meandered as if lost, we know the date they pupated (i.e became a chrysalis). We are going to track them day by day, showing how they change (so far, not much), and then give you a round up on interesting developments with the rest.