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I have been anticipating this day. All five Monarch caterpillars formed a J-Formation on the same day and then went into their chrysalis stage. You can always tell when that special day arrives when you see the butterfly wings inside the chrysalis.
This caterpillar fooled me and built its cocoon on the top of the rearing cage. You can see that the chrysalis is starting to show the formation of the butterfly. This morning I found it hanging and strengthening its wings.
He didn't like it when I had to change all the leaves for the babies. He kept flying about the cage each time I put my hand in it. I knew he was ready to be released, but it had started raining, so I kept him in there until it had stopped.
It has been about 11 days, and this morning I awoke to two more of them hanging from the top of the release cage.
They must have been anxious to hatch since they were already flapping their wings when I woke up at 7:00 A.M.
I took the cage cover off the container and hung it outside on the porch next to my chair. I poured a cup of coffee and sat with the butterflies. The fifth one hatched right next to another that had hatched earlier. It is always a delight to see them emerge. I made a short clip of one of them to share with you.
This female tried to fly but ended up on the arm of my chair.
Then she crawled up onto my arm, but the pictures I tried to take were very blurry.
I took her out and released her onto a zinnia by the pond. She stayed there for another few moments before taking her first flight.
About an hour later, another one of them flew onto the bamboo shades and climbed up to the thermometer. He hung around for a while before flying off.
I took a photo of him when he landed on a zinnia nearby. Today, I had three males and two females emerge and were released to enjoy their new journey.
Now, I wait for the rest of the babies to go through all the stages. Thus, another rearing season will come to an end. I hope you enjoyed seeing my little creatures as much as I enjoy raising them.
😍😍😍😍😍
Hi Denisse, nice to see you. I hope you're selling lots of goodies.
Hello dear Sunscape , this week I had an important exam in class. I just haven't felt like writing here... But I hope to be more active here in the coming days.
Amazing that all five formed the J-shape and went into their chrysalis stage on the exact same day! The impatient butterfly that wouldn't let you change the fresh leaves made me laugh, lol.
How wonderful that you had three males and two females healthy and ready to release today.✨
Hi @melan11e, it was certainly rare to have 5 go through all the stages at the same time. The butterflies are a delight to raise. Glad you stopped by today.
Oh I am glad you shared these sunscape, how amazing. And even standing on your arm, I take it as a sign of thank you. Just amazing really, now I see why you do it! Beautiful creatures and so colourful. I loved the shots were you can see the wings so clearly inside the chrysalis
Thank you, Ed. I do love raising the Monarchs every summer. Watching them emerge is always amazing to see, each and every time.
Such beautiful little creatures. Just love their transformation.
I love the transformation too, @coinjoe. Thanks for stopping by.
I could hear it either raining or your pond bubbling in the background. It's soo cool, having them all emerge like that! Excellent way to spend some of your day...
Yes, the pond was bubbling, but it had poured that morning, and I was worried they would not stay on the cage. But, it did stop before they felt to fly off to the flowers.
!BBH
How wonderful nature is.
I wholeheartedly agree; watching Monarchs transform just amazes me.