Trouble

The trouble with obsessing with butterflies and caterpillars is that sometimes things don't go well, and that gets depressing.

The Monarch chrysalis on the twist tie on one of Cindy's panels finally opened today and the butterfly crawled out, but it was clearly damaged.

When the butterfly emerges from the chrysalis, its wings fill with fluid and expand to its normal size.  However, this one never really expanded properly and the right wing remained crumpled.  I used a leaf to try to help it straighten out, but it never did so.

We had been concerned about this chrysalis for some time because the chrysalis had become very dark, almost black at the top.  It's normal for them to get darker shortly before they hatch and you can usually see the orange and black of the wings inside the chrysalis, but this one was darker than that.  This chrysalis was in a position exposed to the elements and there was some fluid on the chrysalis after the hard rain we had a couple of weeks ago, so it simply may not have had enough fluid left to survive.

Although that butterfly obviously isn't going to make it, other caterpillars are industriously looking for places to attach and form their own chrysalises.  I found this one trucking along close to where the damaged one had attached, so I gave him a ride onto the boxwood hedge; that should be a more hospitable place for him to attach and form his chrysalis.

Caterpillar in the Boxwood