Janet Brien's photos with the keyword: cocoon

8 more pictures in notes above! Please view to watch the amazing show!! :D (The last picture is clickable and shows a line of chrysalis'...you can click on the picture to visit the picture and read more about my visit to Butterfly Adventures and learn more about Monarch Butterflies!) Sometimes everything works out perfectly!! Steve and I went to the Jackson County Fair a month ago, and when I found out there was a butterfly exhibit, I couldn't wait to see it! Little did I know we'd get to walk inside the exhibit!! WOO HOO!!! I was a little kid in a candy store!! When I saw the boxes with butterfly chrysalis' glued to the tops, I was fascinated and thrilled to see the cocoons, but I never thought I'd actually get to see a butterfly actually emerge! In fact, the owner told me that in the five years he's done this, he's always missed the emerging. So of course I didn't expect to get that lucky. However, as I was taking pictures of a Painted Lady butterfly sitting on one of the boxes, I noticed some movement, and saw that it was a Monarch emerging from its chrysalis, literally right there in front of me!! I had that camera up and clicking instantly to record the show!! I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I enjoyed this incredible experience!

It was a great experience to visit the butterfly exhibit at the Jackson County Fair! Not only did I get to see Monarch and Painted Lady butterflies all over the place, I also got to see rows of their chrysalis! These were glued into cardboard boxes for the exhibit with the hope that the butterflies would emerge when someone was watching. Well, I'm happy to say that *I* was one of those lucky someones!! I'll be posting a picture series tomorrow which will show the entire process!! This chrysalis appears to have gold droplets painted onto it, but that's actually how they really look! I did some research and discovered that these metallic-looking dots are quite a mystery to researchers. All species in the Monarch family have metallic dots on their chrysallis and it's thought that they may aid in camouflage, or appear as water droplets to confuse predators. I think they are beautiful! A Monarch butterfly egg hatches into a caterpillar after about 4 days. The caterpillar eats everything it can for about two weeks before the pupa stage. It finds a suitable place under a leaf, spins a silk pad to hang from, and then molts, leaving itself encased in an articulated green exoskeleton, which you can see in the picture above! The pupa stage lasts about two weeks while the amazing transformation from caterpillar to butterfly occurs inside. Tomorrow I'll post Part 2 of Butterfly Metamporphosis with a long series of pictures!!) To read a few fun questions and answers about these butterflies, The Monarch Butterfly website has a really interesting page here! The Monarch Butterfly Expert: Q&A