The gulf fritillary chrysalsis that my daughter and her friend found on Monday successfully emerged today. Their hearts of gold = a new gorgeous butterfly will be among the many fluttering about our gardens.
The rescue emerged
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Monthly Archives: July 2023
Big hearts
Another proud momma moment today!
My daughter, a few days from turning 7 years old, and her friend, also 6 years old, absorb so much information, and with that have such big hearts for nature.
Today, they came running through the sliding glass door, yelling they had to show me something . . . a gulf fritillary chrysalsis that had fallen. You could tell they, too, were proud of themselves for both knowing what it was, and for saving it.
Quite a few caterpillars use her playground as their final chrysalis destination, which is where they had found the chrysalis.
So now, we have a new resident in our butterfly house, hung, so hopefully, it can emerge without any problems.
It absolutely warms my heart how much my daughter, and now her friend, love seeing butterflies. The joy and squeals that radiate off of them when they see a butterfly is rewarding for me. I have shared my passion with two beautiful souls that hopefully will continue to provide gardens for butterflies to enjoy when they grow older.
On the move
It’s always fun to take a stroll in and around the garden to find where the caterpillars end up.
I found one polydamas swallowtail far away from the garden, on the corner of my house, and another hiding in the Bahama cassia tree, still in the safety of the garden.
They are definitely on the move! I am looking down more than up as I move around the gardens to make sure I am not stepping on any caterpillars moving about.
Seven more beauties
Today our butterfly house came alive with seven more polydamas swallowtails emerging from their chrysalis. I have yet to see one crawl out! One day I will be in the perfect place at the right time.
We have had 23 emerge in our butterfly house since Thursday, July 6! To say the polydamas swallowtails are having an excellent summer so far is an understatement. We have three more chrysalis in our butterfly house and TONS of caterpillars still in our garden.
Today my daughter and her friend saw one polydamas caterpillar, which was in its last instar, walking down our driveway, which is not too safe, if I say so myself. So that one, and another walking around a giant milkweed leaf away from its host plant, are now residents in our butterfly house. The last check they had found their resting place ready to make its chrysalis.
Here is an assortment of photos from those that were released. They are gorgeous, the tailless butterfly. They always make me smile when I see them flying about the garden, which is now many every day. The best part is they are hanging out in my front garden, rather than the one in the backyard, the first time since I started the gardens almost three years ago at this house!
As always, check out here for more information: https://sweetbutterflybliss.com/polydamas-swallowtail-butterfly-2
Morning snack
A monarch stopping by for a morning snack, nectar from a milkweed.