Sci Fri: Caterpillar to Chrysalis

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Finally!

We attempted watching the process of metamorphosis last year when we found a chrysalis. We kept it for a month with no significant changes; it remained bright green with gold threads.

This year we went in search of a monarch caterpillar which are quite easy to spot as they are black with yellow and white stripes and live on milkweed plants. Once we found her we brought her home, placed her in a large jar with fresh milkweed leaves and pods every day.

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There is also the errand of cleaning out the very large caterpillar poop, which is luckily not a dirty job as it is quite dry.

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We watched as our Very Hungry Caterpillar made her way through several large leaves a day and continued to grow. She must have already been about 1 week old as it only took a week before she was ready to prep her chrysalis-it took a matter of 3 minutes and happened right before our eyes over breakfast on the 8th day.

 

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As we read up we learned that it would be 9-14 days before she would emerge as a new woman. The warmer the environment, the faster the process.

 

On Day 8, we again found her shortly after breakfast, emerged from her now clear chrysalis! You can tell males from females as the males have a black spot on each of their lower wings.

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