The butterflies are ‘blooming’ all over our front yard and this pictorial shows the evolution of it. Wikipedia describes 4 stages of development of holometabolous insects, those that undergo a complete metamorphosis, going through four life stages; embryo, larva, pupa and imago. Below are pictures of the last three.
If you want to enjoy butterflies, get some milkweed plants and they will come. Be sure to tell the pest control people not to spray the area at or near the milkweed, else they will kill the eggs, larvae, and everything else.
Got a laugh when the pest control guy came last week. I told him not to spray the area, pointing to the milkweed, which by then had been half eaten up by the caterpillars. He said ‘but look they are eating your plants.’ He looked a bit surprised when I said, yes, that’s the idea. That’s why they are there. They are for the caterpillars and soon to be butterflies. I pointed out some of the pupae hanging around and he said, ‘well, you got a little wild kingdom going on here.’
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Gawd, Mark, I think I love you.
Nice post, Ross.
Thanks for sharing.
Yeah, and there’s more to come. I missed one being ‘born’ this morning. It happens pretty fast apparently. I’m monitoring one now. Seems that the pupa go from green to dark, almost black, before the butterfly comes out. I’m hoping to catch some shots of the ‘birth,’ if that’s what it is.
Do you think it might qualify for the Emerald Coastkeepers Natural Preserve Front Yard of the Month award?
lookin’ good! hard to get riled up about politics when you can watch butterflies and Mother Nature doing their thing.
Mark O’Brien