Monarch Madness, continued ...
It's been over a week and the kids are growing fast! Currently I have 27 chrysalises and a handful of caterpillars.
Many of the caterpillars have already climb to the top of the aquarium or are preparing to.
When the caterpillar decides it is ready, it climbs to the top of the aquarium and uses its silk to hang upside down like a letter "J". It will rest as a "J" for six to ten hours. Then it wakes up and starts to move.
It will begin to slough off its outside skin while replacing it with a new covering.
It wiggles while it does this moving the old skin up and off.
The old skin moves up to where the caterpillar attached itself to hang and will drop off.
The process takes about five minutes, click here to see a short video.
In another five minutes the bejeweled chrysalis is created. It is all so fast! I suppose the caterpillars want some privacy as they change from earthbound eating machines to Kings and Queens of the garden. They are Monarchs after all.
The previous Monarch Madness post can be found here.
🐛 🦋 🐛
Thanks to guest blogger Patty Rehn. The words and images are hers.
No comments:
Post a Comment