Butterfly - Chrysalis at two weeks...and counting!

No change, so we continue to wait and hope.  The chrysalis stage began two weeks ago, and I'm hoping Ichabod hasn't decided to die over-winter here!  There are plenty of 80ºF days ahead.

The previous butterfly was SO lovely.  It emerged from the chrysalis in 10 days, and I had it briefly on my hand before take off.

Saturday, September 7, 2013

Butterfly

Yes, congratulations to Sacajawea, who crawled out this morning while we were gathered around the breakfast table.  It was very surprising even though we had anticipated it.  First of all, she has been inside the chrysalis for 9 days, and since the target time was 1-2 weeks, we were watchful for the past few days.  BUT!!!  This morning I noticed the chrysalis had turned dark, and didn't look green like before so I thought this might be close.  Still, I saw no movement until I glanced over 10 minutes later, and there she was, hanging on the stick.

We moved outside and in the sunshine, she stretched.  I thought that she would crawl into an upright position, and that would be the time to put her on my hand (or on Juju's hand) but she didn't ever move up on the top of the stick.  About an hour and a half later, I took a short stick, and she readily crawled onto it and onto my hand.  I had only less than a minute to move to the grass where I thought we could transfer to Juju's hand, but instead, Sacajawea fluttered off, across the yard and through a wire fence.  First flight, and she handled it perfectly!  Gone...

We have one more, Ichabod, who will probably leave us tomorrow or Monday.  We HOPE to get a little more contact with him.  It's all in the timing!

Nature Rearranged

Bringing insect life into the house carries a lot of responsibility!  I don't like to mess with nature, although wasps living in my eaves is another thing that I gladly will rearrange.

Ichabod doing acrobatics: 8/30

I will now make a report that should be good for a week or two:  Both caterpillars are now doing whatever they do inside their chrysalises, and we don't expect any change.
Ichabod surprised us by staying low in the container, and made a brown chrysalis unlike Sacajawea's bright green. To get any kind of photo, and to protect the species, (I read that as a newly hatched butterfly they need room below them to stretch their wings, so it wasn't totally blog-driven) I clipped some parsley, removed unused sticks, and moved I and S to more flattering poses.

Ichabod from Saturday morning: 8/31

It's amazing to see Ichabod masquerading as a dead leaf, which is exactly what I would think if it was outside.
In the meantime, the granddaughter arrives tomorrow, so there will be little time for this blogging nonsense, and I just ordered ants for an ant farm though I pointed out we have a crop of ants in the living room!
Changes to come!

Ichabod

Ichabod hanging quietly, Friday morning, 8/30

Sorry that the container is such a mess... no one to blame but Ichabod!  And he has thumbed his nose at the photographer and chose a most inconsiderate place to hang.
An anxious Ichabod was on the move yesterday. He traveled every inch of surface area in and out of the container. He circled the rim many times, he slid down the side and onto the table, and we found him on the floor making tracks for the perfect perch. (I spent many hours listening to an audio book, knitting, and looking over to see he was missing!)
Today, he's as still as if dead, but there's a little twitch, once in awhile.  And I can't seem to capture it on video...

I'll be checking in to watch and see if I can catch him shedding his body for the new capsule today.  AMAZING STUFF!!

Well, life IS amazing, isn't it.  Thirty-one years ago tomorrow, my beautiful daughter made her first appearance and breath.  And she's on her way home to see us!  Happy Birthday, C!!

butterfly anticipation

Do you think insects will perform on schedule?
I'm hoping for the best, to entertain a four-year-old... who wants the caterpillar to become a butterfly "right now"!!
Here's the time frame:
Discovered caterpillars on Monday late afternoon, and less than 24 hours later they were both climbing around on the sticks.  This indicates they might be ready to settle in and form a chrysalis.  At that point a butterfly could appear between 1 and 2 weeks later.  Our deadline for the 4-year-old is 4 weeks from yesterday.  She will arrive on the 1st and depart on the 25th.
Progress?  After both of them climbed around Tuesday, by Wednesday morning one returned to munch on the parsley, and the other is hanging by threads to a stick, looking half the previous size, and very quiet.  I guess it's time to give them names:  Ichabod and Sacajawea.  Ichabod is the muncher, and Sacajawea is getting on with business on the stick.
Previous blog: Click HERE

Tuesday: Wandering up and down

Wednesday: Ichabod munching on Italian Flat-leafed Parsley

Wednesday morning: Sacajawea starting the process, 8/28/13

When I went to bed Wednesday night, the above Sacajawea was looking a bit shrunken, but still exactly like the above photo. Bleary eyed this morning, and incredulous, that there was such a major transformation overnight!

Thursday morning: I couldn't believe my eyes!

The two tiny threads are still there...  Please click on these photos to get a better view.

Thursday morning: 24 hours later 8/29/13

Awwww!

Aren't they cute? Feeding on my flat leafed Italian parsley...
With our granddaughter coming next week, we hope to keep them alive, and possibly become Black Swallowtail butterflies before September 26.  HURRY!

 I have sacrificed one of my yarn containers, and part of my parsley plant for science!

 First, we looked up what kind of animal these littles guy might be.  The miracle of the internetS!!  Then there were links to raising butterflies indoors.

My husband is NOT happy with the open container, however, I'm confident that

1. they won't get far,
2. they won't WANT to get far away from the parsley,
3. they won't taste very good to the cats,
4. we can track them down, and
5. air is good!

According to the wisdom of the internetS, they will stay on the host plant until it's time to pupate.  At that time, they look for sticks to attach themselves.

Fingers crossed!