Wednesday 6 July 2011

The butterflies transformed into chrysalis

Well, the butterflies keep on growing and eating like crazy. I had to change them to a bigger house because now they are so many of them. Also, they completely finished the pansies from my garden, all the way to the main trunk, so, now I have resorted to other sources. I usually just ride around to a park and cut a bit of pansies for them, but I have to be doing it often, because they eat a lot.

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The caterpillars eating the last of the pansies


A bunch of them already turned chrysalis. It is a very nice looking cocoon. It has small golden spots that shine very bright with the sun. It is so much fun to see how they change. They do two molts before making the next transformation and then they start walking around to find a cozy space. Once there, they tie their feet with some silk and hang upside down like bats. Then in a day or two they shed their skin again and turn into chrysalis. They are so fast and secretive that I didn't had a chance to see them do it, but I have seen others before so it's ok.

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This is their new house


They seem to be Indian Fritillary (Argynnis hyperbius), the caterpillars and the pupa match, but still have to wait until they hatch. I could be in for a big surprise.

The only thing that worries me now is that many of them fell down because of the wind. I guess the netting that houses them is not the best material for them to latch their silk. I hope the bump to the floor doesn't hurt them and they still develop well. I will build a support structure and hang them again so they have space once they come out.

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A bunch of them turned into chrysalis


The swallowtails I used to have lasted around four weeks as caterpillars and another four weeks as chrysalis. This ones only took 3 weeks as caterpillars, so I think that their next stage will be short as well. But still, I have no idea what to expect. Let's see what happens

10 comments:

  1. Takes me back to my days at school when we did things like that in Natural Science. We also kept tadpoles to watchemdevelop into frogs, and we had Locusts too.

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  2. Generous of you to donate your pansies to their larder!

    Very exciting.

    Esther

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  3. How many butterflies are you expecting to have? You're balcony is so amazing!

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  4. Patiently waiting to see what sort of butterfly your little caterpillars turn into. I am watching one in my yard to see what it grows into; however, unless I catch it and raise it in the house I probably won't know what it is.

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  5. Quite an interesting to have on your patio Fer! :)

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  6. I am just as interested to see your support structure as the butterflies. Maybe made with more bamboo and Japanese knots ?

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  7. Thank you very much! I hope they grow well. They take more effort than I thought.

    Bom ~ 15 total, I hope they all hatch

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  8. Hi Fer! This is so very exciting!

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  9. Oh, this is interesting although I must say the caterpillars are a bit scary! :)

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