Ok, I wasn't planning on another post until tomorrow (MOSI day!) but I went out to get that chrysalis and stuff happened. You know, a few weeks ago Mom said she found a Monarch chrysalis just lying on top a a Giant Milkweed leaf. I thought that was really strange. But I see how it happens because that chrysalis I went to rescue just now was doing the same thing. Mind you, a half hour ago it was hanging by its silk. I think maybe one of the cats got stuck in the silk and dragged it on top of the leaf, maybe?
Pieces of wings on the ground. Bad times.
Chrysalises turn dark before they emerge but if that thing hasn't come out in 24 hours or looks kind of shrunken or just too dark you may have problems. Here's one that fell to the ground that is clearly not going to come out. Probably an OE infection.
I know I make fun of all the chrysalises on my house, but it's safer than on the plant where this happens. I might have to rescue this guy, too. And you know, I thought there were only two cats on this leaf until I saw the photo on my computer and spotted the third little guy there.
This guy wandered over to the butterfly pea (which is growing up and through the Giant Milkweed) to make his J. Hopefully, he'll do it safe and successfully.
You know, I had to pick up two more cats that wandered off the milkweed? One was on the grass right below and I thought he might be molting because they will find odd places to molt sometimes but he was just being weird. Both got relocated back to the milkweed. Here's a chrysalis on my Tropical Milkweed. I'm surprised there were any leaves left to hang from. That black thing is his skin that didn't fall to the ground.
About that time, a random Zebra Longwing came by to get a last snack before bed I suppose. They love Jatropha and seem to prefer red flowers in general. Firebush is a big draw for them, too.
Now, if you're ever thinking, "Melanie, I can't find caterpillars, but you seem to find lots. What's your secret?" Well, each caterpillar has its own behavior, but by and large, butterflies lay eggs on new growth. So look there to start because that's where the caterpillars start out for the most part and some of them seem to stay there. Case in point, my Gulf Fritillaries are laid at the tips of those curly-cue thingies and they tend to stay near the ends of the plant. I have a theory that the new growth is more nutritious, but I can't confirm that. But it's like, if you're at the salad bar and you see the worker coming with a fresh bowl of lettuce, you wait and let them replace it before you get your salad because you want the fresh stuff, right? Caterpillars really don't operate much differently.
But they build their chrysalises wherever they want. This is a Gulf Frit chrysalis, FYI.
But like the Monarchs, they seem to prefer the stucco on my house. Now, I took this picture to illustrate a point. Butterflies, much like humans, release meconium when they come out. Basically, since there's no bathroom in a chrysalis, this is when they release everything they've been holding onto. That's how I explain it to folks at the museum since they always freak out on me and think the butterfly is bleeding. FYI, I've chopped enough butterfly heads off (mercy kills) to know they don't bleed like humans; it's certainly not red anyway. So you may look at this picture and think, "Something killed your Gulf Frit!" I see it as a successful emergence. Dad's probably going to see another mess on the house. I guess I could take the garden hose to it; that should wash it off.
And I took one more Duskywing photo because I thought this one had a nice-looking pattern on it. I did have a Gulf Frit flying around but it went up in my cherry tree (maybe for the night?) so I decided not to bother it. Besides, the mosquitoes get really bad around dusk so I had to get back inside!
