The Last of Four Has Emerged! (Monarch, female)
*I had to "neglect" getting adequate sleep to do my final observations! After fourteen hours and forty-two minutes, the last of my "indoor reared" Monarch caterpillars emerged from it's chrysalis! She will be kept overnight to strengthen before her release. She is actively crawling around in her net enclosure and exercising her wings by frequently opening and closing them. You may notice that the butterfly appears to have only four legs, while asking yourself, "Don't insects have six legs?" The answer is yes; however, the butterflies in the Nymphalidae Family use only four legs, the middle and rear ones, while keeping the two, small, vestigial forelegs tucked close to their bodies! *This shot also looks like the butterfly is "distorted," but the abdomen which is bent downward is still filled with blood that will be pumped into the wings. (Below in the comment section is a photo of how the pupa looked minutes before the Monarch emerged.)
blogs.scientificamerican.com/lab-rat/butterfly-watch-four...
The Last of Four Has Emerged! (Monarch, female)
*I had to "neglect" getting adequate sleep to do my final observations! After fourteen hours and forty-two minutes, the last of my "indoor reared" Monarch caterpillars emerged from it's chrysalis! She will be kept overnight to strengthen before her release. She is actively crawling around in her net enclosure and exercising her wings by frequently opening and closing them. You may notice that the butterfly appears to have only four legs, while asking yourself, "Don't insects have six legs?" The answer is yes; however, the butterflies in the Nymphalidae Family use only four legs, the middle and rear ones, while keeping the two, small, vestigial forelegs tucked close to their bodies! *This shot also looks like the butterfly is "distorted," but the abdomen which is bent downward is still filled with blood that will be pumped into the wings. (Below in the comment section is a photo of how the pupa looked minutes before the Monarch emerged.)
blogs.scientificamerican.com/lab-rat/butterfly-watch-four...