As I was heading out for my morning exercise, I of course had to take a detour through my front butterfly garden. I spotted this monarch beauty depositing eggs on our giant milkweed.
The best, though, was closing my front door to see a new chrysalis right below our window. It’s amazing how much activity takes place over night.
I have always only found the remains of when a caterpillar molts, sheds, its skin. I have never witnessed the process in person until today when I took a peek into our butterfly house.
According to author Thomas C. Emmel of “Florida’s Fabulous Butterflies,” the caterpillar is comprised of chitin, a hard material that is somewhat like fingernails. With this type of skeleton, the author said, it does not grow, which is why the caterpillar, depending on the species, can molt up to nine times. The final stage of its molting is pretty incredible as it prepares to become a butterfly.
The polydamas swallowtail has been busy laying clusters of eggs on our Dutchman pipe: one of two I found just today. The eggs are about 1 mm in diameter and will look greenish as they mature, ready to hatch, which takes up to six days. According to the University of Florida, the eggs are covered by a “hard, nutritious secretion,” which are laid in vertical bands.
The larger polydamas caterpillars in our butterfly house have been crawling around finding the perfect place to make its chrysalis. This one did not like me getting close, as its osmeterium shot out when I neared. According to the University of Florida, the osmeteria, located on the anterior of the prothorax, is bright orange, and used as defense.
I found another male monarch butterfly that sought refuge in our garden. It looks like his wing did not dry correctly once he emerged, making it hard to fly.
I have let him sleep in our butterfly house the last few nights and then I bring him back out into the garden for the day. This morning he was super hungry feeding on lantana (yellow nectar flower) and the penta (red nectar flower).
According to author Thomas C. Emmel, of “Florida’s Fabulous Butterflies” the butterflies proboscis, its “long tongue, or feed tube” can reach three times the length of the butterfly’s body when straightened.
It was fascinating to watch just how far the proboscis went into the flower as the monarch drank to its heart content.
Did you know that butterflies can perceive the widest range of colors within the animal kingdom? These remarkable insects can spot ultraviolet to the red end of the color spectrum. According to the book “Florida’s Fabulous Butterflies” by Thomas C. Emmel, the butterflies eyes are comprised of individual facets, allowing them to see objects as a mosaic with each facet seeing a portion of the total picture. The author said this is comparable to pixels making up a photo on the computer or television screen. Some species can see up to 17,000 facets, enabling them to see finer details. In addition, some butterflies also have 360-degree vision and are great at viewing moving images, which helps when in flight.
The ultraviolet light is pronounced during the daylight hours. According to Emmel, some broad petal flowers have spots on its rim that appear bright to the butterfly in this light, as they reflect UV light. The center part of the flower absorb the UV light casting a darker, or even black color to the butterfly’s eye. The dark helps the butterfly land in the right spot quickly to drink its nectar. This is a great ability for the butterfly as it becomes more vulnerable when drinking, than flying.
The caterpillar eyes (Gulf fritillary photo shown above) on the other hand, have two sets of six simple eyes. The oval-shaped clusters are located on each side of its head. Caterpillars can only see light and dark, and a few inches away.
The links below will direct you to my monarch and gulf fritillary pages for more information and photographs.
