New butterfly hatched today. Always a miracle. I love when the chrysalis turns black. You can see through it--the butterfly markings are clearly visible.
After hatching, this one fell to the bottom of our little "cage." It landed feet up, wriggling like crazy, trying to grab onto something so that it could hang and dry its wings. I had to quick run outside and get a stick. Held it ever so carefully by the flailing legs, let it grab on. Here's a photo of me holding the stick, trying to figure out how the heck to get the little guy back into the cage so it could hang properly. You can also see the empty chrysalis, now clear.
Success! The wings look perfect. Once they open, we will be able to tell if it's a girl or a boy butterfly. Hatching anew is very tiring. The butterfly is hanging now, motionless, and will do so for hours.
(I shot this photo through the netting. With flash, you can't even tell!)
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Ping Pong Hatched
Monday, August 6, 2007
Butterfly #4
Butterfly #4 hatched Sunday noon, and we observed the whole thing! First the head came out, then with lots and lots of effort, the legs, body, and finally, the wings. To our surprise, it fell! G. grabbed a stick for me, and in seconds the butterfly clambered up the stick to hang on the chrysalis shell. But...the wings are a little rumpled.
Butterfly #3-a male who we've named Slurpy, hung out through the whole thing. You can see him in the background in a couple of these shots.
Saturday, August 4, 2007
Butterfly #3
Success! Beautiful! We hung around the house to watch the hatching, yet then we all missed it. I was outside and 2 daughters were playing on Webkinz.com. Oh well. This one will be treated with "kid gloves."
In the first photo, the wings are pretty wet. The wings are now nice and flat now that they have dried a bit.
