Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Monarch Pupa - Day 9

I think we are getting close. The chrysalis is losing the brilliant green color and you can see a shade of the orange wings.
Interesting note: Right before "eclosion" (the escape of the butterfly from the chrysalis), the black, orange and white wing patterns can be seen through the pupa covering. This is not because the pupa becomes transparent; it is because the pigmentation on the scales only develops at the very end of the pupa stage (http://www.monarchlab.org/).
What is this? Type "Monarch" in the search box in the upper left hand corner of my blog, click "search blog" and you can see the development of our Monarch so far.

1 comment:

Anna said...

Getting closer! So how long does eclusion take?

I think a spider got our 2 newly hatched caterpillars last night. I can find the chewed up parts of the leaves, but no caterpillars. Sad.