Hummingbird and Butterfly Gardening: DAILY BUTTERFLIES Page 58, 1 by mellielong

mellielong wrote:
I don't know why this one came out today. That cold front is coming through and it's raining right now. I think butterflies can sense the barometric pressure. Anyway, I was sitting here and heard this weird scratching which at first I thought was the Monarch cats doing that thing where they open their jaws against the plastic side of the cage (what's that about?). But then I realized the sound was coming from another cage and sure enough there were these little legs trying to grasp something and get out of the chrysalis. Naturally, I helped free him.

To continue the thought about how long butterflies stay in their chrysalis, it can really vary. The Swallowtails all live on their own timetable. I have seriously had three chrysalids since March. They all clustered together so it's been easy to track them, and I know they were the first set of caterpillars I got last year. The one today was one of the three. My boss at the museum had a Tiger ST that eclosed after eleven months. Really, as long as they're not turning funny colors or leaking, I would just let them hang out as they're probably still viable.

Here's my wrinkled up Zebra ST right after he came out.

melanie