08 September 2014
Another Black Swallowtail Butterfly
All summer long, we've left three or four little green chrysalises in a big glass jar on the back patio. On the first day of school, a butterfly came out of one of them! She was a little camera shy, but another butterfly emerged yesterday, and I was able to capture him while his wings were still a bit ruffled, before they were even ready for flight.
Four months ago, our caterpillars made their first chrysalises. We had read that sometimes the butterflies will "overwinter" for sometimes several months, we thought we'd see just how long that would take. In our case, it would really be "oversummering", since I suppose the butterflies wait to emerge until the heat has passed.
Two chrysalises remain--I'll have to let you know when they hatch!
What lovely colors! It's amazing to see nature literally unfold before your eyes!
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