McQueen
Our butterfly adventure is coming to a quick and satisfying conclusion. On Saturday morning I woke to find that McQueen had hatched from a chrysalis and was perched on the windowsill, longing to fly into the sunshine. I was able to get a picture before letting her go. Yes, McQueen turned out to be a girl. How do I know? Click this link to find out. She also appears to be missing one antenna.
As for Garnish, this morning I woke to find a completely transparent chrysalis.
Garnish
I checked on it every 15 minutes or so, and of course I missed the big moment! But you can meet Garnish after the jump.
Welcome to the world, Garnish!
Leave a Comment:
That's reborn!
I remember doing this with my daughters! So glad you got to watch this amazing creature transform.
What a breath of fresh air to see these beauties appear on the planet when so much of what we are seeing/hearing/reading about is tragic or ridiculous (ie, most of the GOP election happenings). Thanks for inviting us to remember how lovely life is at its core...and for inviting us to remain grounded in it! Welcome, McQueen and Garnish!
Are you sure it's a girl? And that the antenna did not just break off???
The antenna has nothing to do with gender. And yes, I'm sure it's a girl. It all has to do with the black veining on the wings. Click the link above for an explanation of what to look for if you are at all interested. Now that I know what to look for, I find I'm always looking.
Speaking of Monarchs, there's an Imax 3D film due this September about the man who discovered their winter hangout in Mexico, starring the excellent and legendary Canadian actor Gordon Pinsent. I cannot wait.
There are actually people that know the sex of butterflies, eh? I bet that and a dollar would get them a cup of coffee. lol.
I have several of these today around my bushes in the backyard. They are fast fliers. I have two butterfly bushes, and they are hanging around them, and the lilac bush (the new all summer long one).
Hi guys!
The easiest way to see if it's a boy or a girl is to look for his scent patch (in the butterfly world, it's the boys who wear the perfume). Here's a link to a picture of a male from ProjectNoah.com! You can see that all the lines on his wings are more delicate, and there are two black blobs toward the middle inside of the back wings. Those blobs are the scent patches. http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/6422583
I'm a freak for all things arthropodic, and love doing taxonomy (identifying creepy crawlies). Here's my own page on Project Noah. All pictures there are my own.
http://www.projectnoah.org/users/ChristineFisher
I couldn't see the picture of Garnish.(Somehow it didn't load.) Boy or girl?
Girl :)
Learn something new every day. Now when I see monarchs I will look to find out whether they are boys or girls.
Wow! Congratulations on 2 successful transformations. I couldn't find the bulges on the hindwings of the male monarchs in the photos but I did see the the thinner veins.
I should has said "metamorphosis" not "transformation".
In my linked picture, look at at the black lines on the orange. About halfway down the back wing and toward the middle of the butterfly you'll notice two places where it looks like the pen drawing the lines bled a little, making what look like ink blobs on the lines. If you look at McQueen above, you'll see all her lines appear smooth.
So, what you do is first look for thin or thick lines. Then, if the lines look thin, look for those blobs. That will confirm it's a boy.
Hope that helps! :)
the butterfly is effecting change on a dinner plate as window dressing for the prepared dish?
Thank you so much for sharing your adventure with me (and everyone else).