Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Black Swallowtails

The caterpillars of May 29 have become black swallowtails. My son checked the bee box about mid morning and many of the chrysalises had been evacuated. As the day progressed we found butterflies all over the house. Apparently the Pink Panther had not been overly careful getting the caterpillars into the box.

Four chrysalises remain. I (we) hope we can catch them in the act of emerging. Even though we haven't actually gotten to see them emerge we have all gotten up close and personal as we have released them into the wilds of our yard. Obviously, our yard is not exactly insect friendly with 30 chickens roaming freely, but with our careful assistance the butterflies have emerged, dried, flexed, and flown.

I still want to see the emergence. Should I stay up all night? Is the show worth the lack of sleep?

4 comments:

mull-berry said...

How beautiful! Could you leave a video camera on all night? We did this with our hedgehog when we let him run free range in the house. We found that he would run in circles (kitchen, laundry room, bedroom, hall, living room ... repeat) in about 13 seconds.

musemater said...

Enchanting!

Jennifer said...

I think it would be worth a sleepless night. Or two. :-)

(I've only ever watched monarchs emerge, dry, flex, and fly. It changed me.)

Wisteria said...

I saw the last one emerge. It looked so fragile. I hope more visit us. I need to learn more so I don't mess up a good thing.