The Butterfly Chronicles - Part VI

I got up this morning and went to work, as usual. I got a phone call from the house around 9:30, just before the 10:00 a.m. meeting I was unable to get out of. It was my husband. He told me he came past the terrarium and there was a BUTTERFLY in it. Oh, I was so bugged to have missed the whole emergence of this new winged life. Apparently he'd been out a while, as his wings had already unfolded and he sat on his twig, opening them, closing them.

I knew that the second chrysalis that was in the original group of two cats would probably be ecasing shortly, as they both went into the pupal stage at the same time; within a couple of hours of each other, if you remember from Part I.

I left work just as quickly as I could to come home and see the new arrival (and of course, to take pictures, too) so that we could take him outside to fly off to wherever it is new butterflies go once they are able to fly. I also took a picture of his empty shell where he did all the hard work for the last 13 days.

After watching him flit up to the top of the terrarium several times (almost as if he couldn't get enough momentum to get him out of there), WHOOSH! He was gone. He flew around our back yard a couple of times, and then up and over the roof line he went. Gone. Just like that.

After putting the lid back on and carrying our glass box back into the house, I called my mom to let her know that we had just freed our first butterfly. While we were talking, I looked at the other chrysalis to see if that one had changed any. It had. It was much darker than it had been yesterday, and you could see white spots on the inside. I figured that this butterfly would make an appearance tomorrow, most likely while I am at the office. (I'd read that butterflies tend to ecase between 7-11 a.m.)

I chatted with Mom for a few more moments, looked back in on our chrysalis and it was MOVING. Not just moving, either. Our second butterfly was halfway out of his old home and I told Mom, "I've gotta go! Butterfly! I'll call you back!" I grabbed the camera and started shooting.The entire process did not take long at all. He was out of his little case and hanging from the opposite side of the twig before I could have the cap off of my lens.

Quite frankly, I found the entire process both beautiful and fascinating at the same time. Everything I had read was unfolding in front of my eyes. I am posting the pictures of this below and hope that you enjoy them as much as I loved taking them.

Hopefully we will have another handful emerging next week about this time, and I will get photos of them coming out if I have to sit at that table all day long!

Until next time!

The Butterfly Chronicles - Part V

The last week in our little terrarium was fairly low-key and mundane until this past couple of days.

We had several cats "string up" over the weekend, and all but one has retired to "chrysalis" status and we now have six little butterflies in waiting. One of these little guys decided to take a liking to the screen lid, and would not come down, so I took a few pictures of him while he explored the upside-down world of the lid. He actually strung up and there and now sits in the brown and green chrysalis. I am hesitant to remove the lid any farther than to put more parsley into the pot, so I have not shot that picture, as yet.

After having the initial two twigs in separate corners of the terrarium, I realized that there are only four corners, and with several of our cats getting bigger by the day, I knew there wouldn't be enough room, and I wasn't sure if they would double up, or not. I went out to the garden and brought in a soil-filled flower pot and another handful of sticks that I was able to trim down to size. I put the initial two twigs into the soil and placed in on one end of the terrarium, and added more sticks as our little friends strung themselves up. To date, we've got six sticks in the pot, and STILL have more little instars eating us out of house and home. It's almost like a chrysalis-condo community in there.

We are hoping that the initial two will decide to come out over the coming week or so. As that happens, I will do my best to get home to take the pictures I am hoping to get and share with you. It seems, however, that even if I miss one of the initial butterflies, we will surely have enough opportunities to watch the remaining 17 or so. :)

Until next time!