The Future Is Now

Monarch Madness Continued

After being in their chrysalis for almost two weeks, the butterflies have started emerging.

I can tell when this is about to happen because the chrysalis will begin to change color. One day it will be light green.

Then it will begin to get darker.

And then a little translucent.

Finally, when it looks like this the butterfly's metamorphosis is complete and it is ready to break out of its now thin shell.

The chrysalis above looked like this a 8:00 am.

By 9:00 am the butterfly had emerged and was unfolding, drying and pumping up its wings. At noon I released it into our garden.

Coincidentally, moth chrysalises that Steve and I have raised emerged in the late afternoon in order to be ready to fly at night.

You can determine whether a Monarch is a boy or a girl.

Look at the two above photos. Each is a different sex. Can you see the difference and guess the boy and girl?

The dots on the wings are diagnostic that this is male.

So far 15 butterflies have emerged. Twelve males and three females. Fifteen more chrysalises are left. Four have started to turn darker.

I wonder what their future will be?

 🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋

Thanks to guest blogger Patty Rehn. The words and images are hers.