I found this on my Osmanthus this weekend. It's a little over one inch long and the spots on it are positively golden, as in, shiny gold as if they've been gilded! It reminds me a little bit of Swallowtail chrysalises but I've never seen one with those markings. Also, last night when I checked it, it had turned dark blue so it may be about to "hatch".
this is a chrysalis of a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae; possibly a variegated fritillary, Euptoieta claudia - see http://tinyurl.com/22qfjr7 for an image.
Thanks! That's close enough. And I definitely remember seeing that caterpillar on some Viola volunteers a few months ago. I'll have to pay closer attention to the garden now and look out for the butterfly as well.
