Black Swallowtail Butterflies - Part IV

So when I last posted, we had left our friends in a state of almost suspended animation.  Let's fast-forward almost 2 weeks.  It takes approximately 12-14 days for the entire metamorphosis to be complete.  Everything I had read stated that it would take these beautiful creatures quite a while to struggle out of the confines of the chrysalis, but darned if ours didn't just pop right out.

One Sunday, I woke up early (they seemed to favor coming out in the mornings) and perched myself and my camera at the terrarium and waited.  And waited. And waited...I just KNEW, based on how dark the chrysalises had become, that I had one or two ready to break free, and I was going to catch them in the act, by golly!  You can actually see the colors of their wings through the shell and when they darken (especially the green ones) you know that the time for them to come out is near.  I sat there for five or six hours, but I DID get the pictures, and my son grabbed my blackberry and took video.

I actually did a series of blogs about this experience, and it can be found here:  http://butterflybyjulie.blogspot.com/

There are also two videos that we posted; one of the caterpillar shedding its final skin, and one of the actual butterfly breaking free, so please feel free to go check out the blog. It follows our experience from start to finish!

Until next time.....