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.

Butterfly #2

Bad news-despite what the little booklet that came with the butterfly house said-it is not a good idea to have the butterfly hatch from a chrysalis that is not hanging. This guy has crushed wings. :(

I was out doing errands, and when I got back he was laying on his back and had been for maybe about 1/2 hour. I quick grabbed a stick and he crawled right up to hang. Not looking good though, as the wings are quite mangled.
I also hung the other chrysalis with duct tape. It should hatch any time...

Two More Butterflies

Looks like we will have 2 more butterflies hatch today. Here's the chrysalises. Since we didn't have the butterfly house yet when the caterpillars went into chrysalis, the chrysalises are laying at the bottom of of the butterfly house (vs. hanging). It should work out OK, and hopefully they didn't get jostled with feeding the first butterfly etc. etc.

One chrysalis is very translucent!!

Hoping to be able to observe the actual hatching today. After I drive a friend to the airport, have a few errands to do...so hoping that I do not miss it.

I laid the first butterfly in the flower bed in the front yard. Since the others look ready to hatch, I figured we should put her out into nature. She's hanging out and not flying. Ah well...

Chrysalis-Final Stage

Chrysalis #1 (of 4) turned black overnight. With the illumination of the camera with flash, you can see the wing pattern! I am really getting a kick out of this. Won't be long before the butterfly hatches.

I am shooting photos through the clear plastic top of the butterfly house so as not to disturb the little guy, so there's a bit of a reflection and it's hard to get a clear photo. This one we attached to the top of the house with duct tape. :)Here you can see the top of the house with 2 chrysalises (and duct tape)-fuzzy, but there you have it.

Caterpillars in Chrysalis

Ah, these are a bit blurry, but here is one caterpillar in "J" and a chrysalis.



Now they are both in chrysalis...