This past week I had 3 males, and one female that emerged from their cocoons. This las male Monarch stayed with me on the back porch for a long time.
This is a few moments after it emerged from the chrysalis.
I always remove the cover from the insect cage when I see that one of the chrysalises have turned dark, this means that the butterfly will hatch sometime during the day. I always hang the top of the cage outside on the porch where I can watch them closely.
You can see the progression of the wings expanding in the photos which takes some time.
Here he is stretching his wings to strengthen them for flight.
The top left photo is of a female and the rest of them are all males. Males are distinguished by the two dots on the lower wings; the females do not have them.
While I was sitting in the chair watching him, he tried to fly and landed on my arm. The butterfly wasn't strong enough to take flight yet, so for the next 45 minutes it sat on my arm and hand while strengthening its wings.
Mika was intrigued by the Monarch and had to sniff it to check it out.
Then she had to sit on the stool with me keeping an eye on the butterfly. Maybe she wanted to make sure it wasn't going to harm me somehow. It was a delightful afternoon spending time with the last Monarch for this summer season.
I still have one more Swallowtail that is feasting on Parsley and getting very large.
Soon it will be ready to cocoon. I have three of them that I raised this summer season. I did not have many this year as the butterflies were scarce, perhaps it was due to the hot weather, but I did manage to find some eggs.
Maybe next year I will have a larger hatchery to care for. It is one of the things I enjoy doing to help the Monarchs thrive.
All the netting has been washed well and dried on the line. They fold up flat and stored away until next summer to start all over again.
I hope you enjoyed seeing my little creatures today. May you enjoy the rest of your weekend and upcoming week.
