Egg, larva, pupa, adult - the four basic life stages in
an insect’s life cycle. I’ll be visiting
these four stages this season on the Butterfly Ranch mostly as it relates to
monarch butterflies but not necessarily restricted to them.
It takes monarchs about a month to go through
the stages from egg to adult and once it has attained adulthood the butterfly
will live another two to six weeks and may actually participate in the
migration south. This post is about the
third stage of development – the pupa.
And I’ve delayed posting something about this subject for lack of a pupa
to photograph.
Just before they pupate
the caterpillar goes on the march to locate a suitable place to hang. Like this guy walking on the siding of the house. The choice of location varies - including porch furniture, the hose reel, picnic table, edging of the siding, and much more. They'll even hang on my tomato plants.
click on images for a closer look
The monarch larvae then spins a silk mat from which they
hang upside down. Shedding its skin for
the last time the caterpillar inserts a stem into the silk pad to hang. By the time the larva pupates - all the
major changes to the adult form have already begun. Most moth caterpillars spin
a silken cocoon to protect them as pupae. Butterflies do not do this so this is
correctly called a chrysalis.
In eight
to fifteen days the chrysalis will darken as the black, orange, and white wing
patterns become visible through the pupa covering. This is a sign that the adult butterfly is about to
emerge.
Stay tuned for the fourth and
final installment.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment