two of my recent batch of Queen chrysalis's are very pale, is this a problem ? are they ok?
The one on the left is much paler than the one of the right.
Something weird w/ Queen chrysalis
Look in this article on raising butterflies at the picture of TexasPuddyPrint 's jungle jim. It is about half way down.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/2358
There are pale colored ones there also. She (Cat) will be the one to ask I think; and will probably see this post before long.
This message was edited Jul 24, 2009 11:31 PM
Some Queen chrysalises are more of a pink color than green and it looks like you've just got one of those natural variations. The surface looks smooth and even with no splotching so I'd say you have a healthy chrysalis!
Melanie
Mellie,
thanks, I was worried there might be a problem w/ them.
On the Zebra Longwing front...my "bait" maypop in a hanging basket in the shade netted me 13 eggs last week, and they've all hatched. I've also collected about a dozen more eggs today.
And I was taking cuttings of my Silkey Red Milkweed and found 3 Monarch cat's and about a dozen eggs which could be Monarchs or Queens.
Yippee!!
All right ! It's game on!
mjs....the wood on that cage...that isn't treated is it?
mjs - there's nothing wrong with your Queen chrysalids. Sometimes they just happen to be pink or white. Not sure if it is based on what they eat but every now and then one brood will have lots of them. They are equally beautiful :o)
Here's a photo of a bunch of pale Queen chrysalids (ignore the green black swallowtail chrysalis)
I raised about a bunch of caterpillars a couple of years ago and the majority of them formed white to pale pink chrysalids. This photo shows five on a wire 'jungle gym' - which is just a wire basket that I turned upside down and set into an aquarium so they could climb up and pupate.
They all eclosed healthy!!!
I don't raise Queens any more since they are soooooooo abundant out here - but I'll see several pale chrysalids around the house and yard throughout the year.
~ Cat
This message was edited Jul 25, 2009 11:12 PM
Here's more on the aquarium's cover. I made the wood frame cover myself and stapled wire screening to the top - works great!!! :o)
~ Cat
This message was edited Jul 26, 2009 9:39 AM
Shelia,
no, untreated furing strip...did it before I read Cat's blog w/ the hot glue gun. So as soon as these guys are done am removing that and redoing w/ the hot glue.
I've made a few small cages, and then D's SO said don't go too crazy there's something coming in the mail...meaning butterfly cage? ^;^ !....won't tell me more than that.
needs to get here quick....gotta lot of eggs/cats coming along.
And 3 of the cats I found yesterday are already big enough this morning that they are Monarchs !! Yeah ! I've had so few, I'm hoping I can get their populations up. And if you've read the post I did about plants that attract wasps...get you sunflowers harvested asap, and move dill/fennel away from your other BF Host plants.