I should have been more diligent about that cup of foam. I thought that since there was no water in it… live and learn. Still, hard to accept the fact that it would be alive now had I left it on the plant.
On happier news, a bunch of the BSTs are lined up on the same stick, facing the same direction. Pretty cute. I'm gone all day today, so I'm sure that they'll wrap themselves up while I'm gone! They're so secretive. The last cat must feel like a king having all the food to itself!!
Thanks guys!!!!
My first Attempts
Okay, everyone is snuggled away.
This is the green one. I think that it might emerge deformed as I read of a similar green chrysalis instance on another thread.
Here they are all snuggled on the same branch.
And here is one that chose a small branch.
Yay! Not long before you'll have bfly's!! And you know, most of my cats turned into that green chrysalis. And then just the day before they emerged they turned a little brown. And they all came out fine. So yours will probably be perfect!
Found 3 more baby BST cats on a volunteer dill plant in my garden yesterday. LOL! I thought I was done with these guys for this year.
Still no monarch cats, but lots of monarchs fluttering around the butterfly garden so I've got my fingers crossed.
When, chatnoir??? The first spun it's little sleeping bag overnight on July 20/21.
I'm sooooo glad to hear about your successful green guys. I'm really amazed that a butterfly as large as a BST is going to emerge from these little things!
Lots of swallowtails make green chrysalises. They can be brown or green depending upon the season and the location they pupate. I've read that if they're on a smooth piece of wood they assume it's new growth and make a green chrysalis to match the leaves. If the wood is rougher they tend to be brown as they assume it's an older part of the plant with brown leaves. At MOSI, I've pinned chrysalises of BSTs that were both brown and green. And Zebra STs are known for varying color and they all come out fine.
YAY!!! That's so good to hear.
Ah. The branches might just be the key. I have a serious lack of twigs around here so in some of the cages I was using pieces of bamboo skewers. Although many of them attached right to the top of the netting on the cage. In a couple of them, I found some branched twigs to use and thinking about it those were a little darker. I'l have to keep closer watch with this next batch.
Mrs Ed, yours should be popping any day -- mine were right around 10, 11 days.
And I just found someone who is sending me some seeds for spice bush (Lindera benzoin) so I'm hoping that eventually I can have those swallowtails too.
popping ..lol
Okay, great!!! I'll get right on "BST-Watch, 2008!"
I'm a MOM!!!!
Went out this morning and there it was. I tried to move it to a flower but it was still kinda dumb, so I put it back in the cage with a flower and some honey water. I made sure that the proboscis was free, but I do NOT like to handle them. I'm so afraid I'll hurt it.
FANTASTIC NEWS! Congratulations!
Mine took a good couple of hours to dry completely and fly away. Way longer than I would have expected.
yah, i don't want any birdies helping themselves to lunch, so I'll wait a while!
My experience is with a single chrysalis that I think may have overwintered in a bush.... (it has been so long ago that my memory is foggy).. , near my front porch stoop........anyway, I had been watching it for what seemed like a very long time, when one day I noticed something different........I was priveledged to observe the emergence of a Black Swallowtail.....there are many 35mm pics somewhere of the process.....when it finally did emerge......after stretching it's wings and uncurling its probiscus......I too remember that it seemed to be dazed and taking quite a long time.........what I later learned was that it also has to go thru a somewhat time consuming process of ... (reminded me of the birthing of a human!)......sort of like filling its body...wings, etc up with o2 and energy (is how my mind recalls it), and that if this process is assisted or sped up , then the newborn butterfly will sort of be like a "preemie" (again, I am sharing with you as my mind recalls the info that I read...well over 25 years ago)....I knew that I had tried to "help" this newby by gently taking it on my fingertip and watching it a while, and then eventually "letting it go" with a gentle lift, and drop of my hand..........it was such a awesome experience......yet I have always wondered, if I helped.. or hindered that little guy.................awe well,... I just know that it was an experience that I was blessed with and will always treasure.........just wish I could find those pics!
---Birdie ;-)
Nice birdie.
Well the little one is gone. I went out about an hour ago and s/he was fluttering all crazy like to get out. So I pulled it out and let it go and boy did it take off fast. It was out of the yard in no time. Awww, they grow up so fast.
okay, here beings the proud mother sequence… 4 pix in all.
#2
check out the eye spots on the back of the head!
#3
#4
All these are from when I tried to release it too early this morning. I'm glad I took these pictures though, because I would not have gotten them otherwise.
Oh yes, congrats on the perfect butterfly! Many times a butterfly is fully ready to go and before you could even think of grabbing the camera it flies out like a bat out...well, you know where.
Oh how beautiful and what nice pics. Did you get to observe it unfurling it's wings from all curled up in the chrysalis? That is so incredibl to see how any baby anything...I guess...fits into the tiny space that they emerge from.............way cool & gr8 pics
Great pics!
chatnoir.....do you have a black cat BTW???
Ummmm no. It's a long, well boring anyway, story. Ya know you're the first person to ask me that? I actually have dogs. Let's just say I had no idea how long I'd be using the name when I picked it! LOL
Geeze, I hope I'm a Mrs_Ed for a really long time! ;) I suspect Mr. Ed wants it that way too.
No, I did not get to see it unfurl. I got up, did some exercises then went to let the dogs out and check the chrysalis since I expected it to go today. I took one look at it and first noticed liquid beneath it on the floor, then I thought, "It looks bigger and lighter." Then suddenly FLAP FLAP FLAP! Ohhhhhh, there you are. Well it was already dry and "straight" wings, but still a little dopey as I said, which was the only way I got pictures.
Then when we released it, it took one short loop in the yard to gain some altitude and was gone in a flash.
ha. Good thing I've got 7 more!
Oh wow....7 more,! how exciting!....I do hope that you are able to get a group of shots of the actual emerging. It is so cool. Hope all is well with you.........you certainly stay busy..and we are blessed by all the pics you share here.
Thanks Birdie. 7 is nothing!!! Chatnoir had 22! Right???
Congrats on the BST emerging without problem! They will make chrysalis in green and in brown. But they are just as healthy either color.
I bet the cat that got lost still made it's chrysalis somewhere. Were you outside or inside? I had one that evidentally I dropped on the way into my shop. Later we found it; it had made it's chrysalis over the doorway!
I'm keeping them outside on a covered porch. I sure hope it made it somewhere. We looked all over. I expected to see it on the beam above or something.
Thanks for the congrats. Hope I get to see at least one of the others emerge.
The process is so quick! Usually BST are not reliable time wise. But Monarchs you can almost tell to the hour. They take 10 days to pupate and emerge early in the morning. But I have had BSTs emerge in the morning, mid-morning and early afternoon. No rhyme or reason with those guys!
those troublemakers!!! Well I will say that this first one "wrapped" himself/herself overnight, so I was not surprised to see it already emerged at 8 am! I made a mistake though of not noting when the others did their thing. Ow well. always an adventure!
I failed to tell you Mrs_Ed, the pictures were great. Also want to ask is that a Monarda it is resting on?
yes, the first pics. I put it on this lavender monarda that I got at the Iowa roundup this year. Just said "lavender monarda" so I don't know the variety. Pretty though! Then I took it over to the phlox so that it had more "surface area!"
Well, interesting news this morning. I found one of the escapee caterpillars. It made it all the way into the garage, past some boxes, up a big piece of packing Styrofoam and then made the cocoon! I'm glad I found it because the styrofoam and boxes are going away this week. And also, I'm not sure it would have made it free as the stryrofoam was up against another piece.
So that means only one is unaccounted for.
Yay! I've got monarch eggs and some teeny tiny monarch cats on my milkweed! Finally!!
I read that I shouldn't cage the little guys until they're 4 days old. They're probably 2-3 days right now.
Well right on!!!!!
Yea!! That is great news!
Woo-hoo! Yeah, I don't know why but I don't have success with them until they're a little bigger. When I was gathering milkweed today at MOSI to feed the Monarchs, I ended up finding three more. I had one laying eggs in my yard yesterday so next weekend I'm sure I'll be out rounding them up.