Saturday, June 25, 2011

Monarch Chrysalis

The milkweed garden that was planted has been decimated by the Monarch caterpillars as expected. But, new leaves are just starting to emerge from the leftover branches. Meanwhile, I found a dozen or so Monarch chrysalis' not on the milkweed, but outside the periphery of the main plant. The caterpillars tend to migrate away and up the house and other structures. The chrysalis' that I could see in plain sight were on the house stucco, under the eaves, under the outdoor furniture and near a water fountain. I almost stepped on a newly emerged butterfly after watching it unfold its wings one afternoon; it had flopped onto the brick pavers and I had forgotten that it was there.
The chrysalis (one of three) pictured below was on the garden hose storage roller where it gets rotated like a chair in a Ferris wheel ride when watering is needed in the garden. It looks just about ready to release a butterfly.
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