Timing Is Everything
by Theresa Farris
September 25, 2009
Our first Monarch
butterfly emerged from the chrysalis on Sunday over the holiday
weekend. We have our second Monarch chrysalis nearing maturity by
Sept. 13th and yes it too is on a Sunday.
But……. We have at least 11 more chances to watch a Monarch
butterfly emerge.
The Monarch caterpillar can be identified by the black, white and yellow striped body. When the Monarch caterpillar reaches 2 inches in length it is full grown. The caterpillar then finds a safe place to attach its back set of legs, allows itself to drop and then hangs there, upside down in a J-shape, for about one full day. The caterpillar's skin is shed for the last time as it passes from the larval (caterpillar) stage to the pupa (chrysalis) stage of metamorphosis.
The chrysalis has hardened to become a beautiful jade green shell.
In just 9 to 14 days the transformation from caterpillar to butterfly is complete. You can tell the butterfly is soon to appear when the chrysalis changes to a dark color. Through the chrysalis, you can now see the orange and black wings of the monarch butterfly.
We have also added 2 swallowtail caterpillars. They were found eating the greens from the top of a carrot plant. You can identify a young swallowtail caterpillar by it being black in color with a white saddle. The full-grown parsley worms or caterpillars can reach 2 inches in length and are smooth and green, marked with black bands and yellow spots.
After the caterpillar molts several times, each larvae transforms in a pale green chrysalis that is suspended from a plant stem by a thread.
This butterfly is different than the Monarch caterpillar because we will have to wait until spring to see the black swallowtail. It is a black butterfly with yellow markings near the margins of the forewings and hind wings and more limited blue and red markings on the hind wings. The Swallowtail caterpillar spends winter in the chrysalis (pupa) stage.
And so we wait!
