Posts Tagged: eclosure
Independence Day for a Monarch

Have you ever seen a monarch butterfly eclose? It's a magical moment. First an egg, then a...
The monarch chrysalis bulges, a sure sign that eclosure is imminent. At right is a newly formed green chrysalis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Out it slides. Swoosh! (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Time to wiggle around. Welcome to the world! (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Time to pump up the wings. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Just you wait, soon I'll be a familiar looking butterfly. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
I'm swinging and swaying. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Ah, as soon as I dry, I'll be off and long gone. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
It Is Not a Good Time to Be a Butterfly

It is not a good time to be a butterfly. Especially if you're a monarch butterfly that eclosed on...
A female monarch that eclosed on Jan. 5 perches on a finger, next to a garden flag depicting a male monarch and a worker honey bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Close-up of a monarch that eclosed on Jan. 5, 2017. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Tiny/Tim Not Long for This World

It was bound to happen. Not all monarch butterflies that you rear will make it. Such was this...
Tiny and Tim on a replica of a penny-farthing. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Tim catches some rays. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
From an Egg to a Caterpillar to a Chrysalis to a Monarch

Have you ever seen a monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) lay an egg on her host plant, the...
A monarch laying an egg on her host plant, milkweed. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Close-up of a cream-colored monarch egg. Note the oleander or milkweed aphid next to it. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A very tiny caterpillar but it's big enough to start eating holes in the leaves. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A fifth-instar monarch caterpillar. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The jade green chrysalid. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Voila! A monarch butterfly has just eclosed. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A monarch sipping nectar from a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)