In school we just finished learning about monarch butterflies! We had TONS of milkweed plants in our garden this year, and we left them for the monarchs. :) It was fascinating. We brought two of them inside (one was just a worm getting reading to turn into a chrysalis when we brought it in) and waited. It was a good thing we did because it froze here (that's September in WI for ya...) one morning and they would have died. The first one we brought in was late, but here are some photos of the second. We didn't get to see it emerge, but they're really really fast at it.
It was a clear chrysalis one minute...
then suddenly we looked up at it again and their was a lovely butterfly sitting there!
It's wings were all curled up of course, but it wasn't long before they flattened and dried out. We took him (and it was a boy) outside and put him on a flower. :)
See how he has bigger black and darker brown spots on the lower corners of his top wings? (CORRECTION: The scent glands are the two small black spots on the BACK wings.)That's how we know it's a boy. :) Those are the scent glads they use to attract females. :) See, God even invented perfume. ;) He's beautiful isn't he? We should name him...comment and leave me some ideas! :)By the way, my mom took the last photo.
Well, bye bye little butterfly! (I sure hope he's on his way to Mexico as it will probably freeze tonight. We haven't seem him or the other one recently, so they've probably all flown away.)
Did you know that monarch butterflies fly to the exact same tree their father and grandfathers did when they flew to Mexico. The coolest part? All monarchs only travel to Mexico once. How did they know where to go? God is truly amazing. The Monarch Butterfly is definitely one of His most amazing creatures.
Psa 78:4 We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done.
~Natalya
Awww, the pictures are so pretty! Especially the one right after it emerged:)
ReplyDeletethe chrysalis was so tiny! It was only about an inch long, a little less actually. :) It was really adorable sitting there with those crumpled out wings. It moved it's "mouth" too since it has to connect both sides of it. It was really cute. :)
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