Monarch Metamorphosis

While I was at the Shenandoah National Park two weekends ago, I took some great pictures of monarch caterpillars.

Adult female monarch butterflies lay their eggs on the underside of milkweed leaves. These eggs hatch, depending on the temperature, in three to twelve days. The larvae then begin to feed on the milkweed leaves for about two weeks before they begin to look like the caterpillar pictured below and measure about two inches long.

This is the time of year when these ugly worm like creatures begin their metamorphosis. They find a place where they attach themselves head down with a button of silk.

This one found a place under the ledge of a privacy wall that surrounds one of the public restrooms in the Park. You can see the silk button it is hanging from.

I found another one that was in the next stage of the transformation where it splits its skin and sheds it to become a pupa or chrysalis.

This process is done in a matter of hours. Soon it takes on a jade green, vase like appearance with a crown of gold at the top.

For two weeks the caterpillar’s chamber becomes more and more transparent until it completes its transformation. The butterfly finally emerges from the transparent chrysalis. It inflates its wings with a pool of blood it has stored in its abdomen. When it has its wings completely open, it will expel any leftover fluids and rest. When the wings are stiff and dry, it will fly away to start the cycle of life over.

I wish I could have gotten more pictures of this transformation. If you wish to see the complete cycle, take this link to a pictorial of each step.
http://www.adver-net.com/Monemerg.html