18 September 2012

unfolding

The chrysalis that I failed to photograph the other day hatched out! I realized before it did that it wasn't a monarch after all; the monarch chrysalises have only a small ring of irridescent spots around the base and tip. This one had rows of shiny spots down the length of it, in tiny raised spikes. I took a picture of it empty.
It hatched at my friend's house so we didn't see the butterfly until its wings were half-open. It's a painted lady. Comparing pictures of the chrysalis confirmed that.
Unfortunately, not sure if this butterfly will every fly. By the next day it was still crawling on the deck, wings still partly cumpled. Placed carefully onto a plant but I don't know if it will survive, nor why the wings didn't fully extend. It emerged in open space, so nothing constricted the wings' expansion... maybe it fell and got injured before they were done?

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