I brought the chrysalises to work today, since they became transparent overnight. The instructions said butterflies were likely to emerge between 6:30 and 11:30.
With a minute of each other at 11:00 they crawled out. Then they went through every stage one minute apart: pumping up the wings, splatting out the extra color, drying out the wings, first flap, first crawl, hanging upside down, first dive off the top of the cage.
Then, at about 6:00 pm they got out of sync and became two individuals again, just as they were when they were caterpillars.
At about 10:00 pm they were crawling next to each other and flexing their wings in each other’s faces. They were battering each other with their wings. I had to walk away. I can’t let them go free tonight because they can’t fly yet.
I fully expect only one to be alive tomorrow morning.
11 responses to “Heartless Killers! Do Not Be Deceived by Their Lovely Exteriors!”
They’re BEAUTIFUL!
I saw the first monarch of the season fluttering by yesterday. Unnamed Co seems to be right in the middle of some migratory path. 🙂
so cool. and i love that you brought them to work.
I can’t stand animals but this is cool.Cool. Hmmmm.
If I give you the $29.95 pay-per-view fee, can I watch them fight it out?At least this wasn’t about dog poo. Violence I can handle.
Oh they are so lovely! One of my favorite experiences ever was visiting the Butterfly Garden in Key West.
We have lazy monarch butterflies here in NZ – they hang out round the buddleia trees smoking pot probably and don’t fly further than about 10 miles. They get ragged and tatty and fall out of garage cupboards in your face during winter.The athletic if slightly batty little godwit, however, is a bird that winters in Alaska and is just arriving back here after a 7200 mile non-stop journey. Beats a 747 any day.
TasterSpoon – Yep! And I grew them myself.Becs – The whole monarch migration thing makes much more sense now that I’ve seen the synchronized catterpillars.Magpie – I was chastised from the next cube for talking baby talk to them. “Ooozz a strong widda buttfwy?” “I’m getting the Raid.”Ajooja – You can’t stand animals? Is it the poo? You can tell us..75 – They’ve been jostling each other all day. I wonder if they were just hungry.Amy K. – We have a great butterfly house here in Saint Louis. It outpaced the one in Jamaica. We’ll have to see how the one in Niagria Falls looks. I love butterfly houses.
Big Dot – After reading the Wikipedia entry, I really want to eat a Godwit.
How did you know??? There was an item on the news last night about how to cook godwits, showing some pink sauce being drizzled over a neat square of golden poultry, but I was so horrified at the thought of eating such a gallant bird, as well as being certain that it would be a tough morsel to chew on, that I didn’t watch the report. Tch.
Big Dot – Hey! I see you are back in NZ. Wikipedia says it is a dainty tasty morsel. But, yeah, a shame to eat it.