Monarch Caterpillars into Chrysalis videos

These are just the video of the monarch caterpillars as they transition to chrysalis. Chrysalis to butterfly video coming soon!
Shorter, timelapsed version:

Longer version that takes place in real time:

For the setup I used, visit my last post.

Monarch Caterpillar into Chrysalis

It has begun! That is to say metamorphosis has begun. Two nights ago when I saw that s/he had attached to the bark in the first stage of becoming a chrysalis, I made a new home for Jamie, my adopted monarch caterpillar out of a shoe box and some left-over tulle. Then I setup my camera and light so I could capture a timelapse of this process (and will post that in the future). I pretty much figured I would miss the main event, as it was late at night and I had to work the next morning. And I was right... by the time I got home from work, Jamie had become a full chrysalis. Here was the setup (photo taken August 1)

And here are some stills from the process Jamie went through (all videos to come later):

By the evening of August 2, my second adopted caterpillar began the process of becoming a chrysalis as well, so I set him up for a timelapse:

And I adopted another after finding that two of the caterpillars outside had begun their walk-about and, I hope, found new locations to form their chrysalises.

By Saturday morning (August 3), I found that my milkweed plants were beginning to suffer from the little yellow aphids that tend to suck the life out of the plant if you don't get them under control. So, I moved all the rest of the caterpillars to my jars inside so I could power-spray the milkweed and attempt to control the infestation.

And now, by this time (9:30 pm on Sunday August 4), four of the five caterpillars have transformed into chrysalis form. The fifth is hanging now and will likely transform sometime tonight. Here's the scene in the camera right now (the dates/times are when the caterpillars finished transforming to chrysalis):

I am timelapsing the changes the chrysalis make now (this will likely take sometime between a week and two weeks).

Monarch caterpillars day 7

Today is a big day! Little Jamie has started the metamorphosis to become a Monarch butterfly!! What's more is that I still have six more caterpillars to watch on my milkweed, and I've relocated another to inside the house. This one is one of the longest/fattest of the bunch, so I'm hoping chrysalis is coming soon. And tomorrow or Saturday, now that I have cleaned out Jamie's jar and moved him/her to a new home, I will probably adopt another. :)

I was going to take this one since it's eating my flower buds, but I couldn't come up with an easy way to take it without potential damage or dropage

And now for my new adopted caterpillar (before capture):

And here's Jamie at the onset of the chrysalis process:

Monarch caterpillars days 5 and 6

Yesterday I did not get home early enough to get any pics of the caterpillars in the live milkweed plants, but it's just as well since I took so many pics today. But I did get a shot of my adopted caterpillar. Boy is he getting big! Eating voraciously... ok so they're all doing that. 

My adopted caterpillar, whom I have finally named Jamie. I'm hoping for a girl :)

Now for today's selection of photos, and yes, all six 'pillars are still eating voraciously and growing like crazy beasts. Initially I was only able to find five...

 And here this guy's brother is poking his head around...

After spotting the first five pretty easily, I had to hunt for number six. This little bugger was hiding out under the lowest leaf on a different stalk from all the others, and was tricky to get a good, in-focus shot:

 And, I got to watch what happens when two 'pillars try to eat the same leaf (they head-butt):

Now for the video of these two head-butting and eating:


Finally, here's Jamie, sleeping off her/his big meal, just after I cleaned out the jar. It's quite amusing how they can be chomping away on a leaf and then all of a sudden they fall asleep.

In case you missed them, here are the previous two posts (here and here). These photos were all taken with a Canon Rebel T3i with the Canon 18-55 zoom lens.

Monarch Caterpillars days 3 and 4

Yesterday I went out to observe the monarch caterpillars I talked about two days ago and was a little bummed to only find three caterpillars after observing four on the plants on the first day. And since I figured the other one was taken by a bird, I was grateful I had rescued one to see if I could be a good "adopted mama". Here are the three I saw yesterday:

But today... I counted not four but SIX on the plants. Today was also the first chance I've been able to clean out the glass jar my little guy has been living in, so you can see him in his jar at the end of the post...

These first two pics are the same caterpillar (the youngest one is also in the background here but far enough away that he's pretty blurry)

 (I love this shot with two of them)

Oh I'm so excited!!! They are voracious eaters though, so I hope the plants can take it.

I've also considered "rescuing" another of the six that are currently outside, but haven't yet. I don't want them to kill each other in the confined space of this jar. Anyone have any thoughts on that?

Monarch Caterpillars in my garden 2013

Yesterday I discovered four monarch caterpillars on my 10 shoots of milkweed! Wahoo! But before I get to those beauties, almost two weeks ago I watched this little beauty on the salvia in my butterfly garden (the first time I've seen butterflies on this plant that normally attracts swarms of bees)

The other day I was lucky enough to catch a monarch floating past my garden, but it didn't stop. I assumed this was because the milkweed has not yet bloomed. So, the appearance of the caterpillars was a welcome surprise!
 From yesterday:

 After gathering one of the little guys and placing him in a new home inside my house (we'll see if I can do a good job as an adoptive butterfly mama), I noticed another little guy on top of the milkweed flower buds... bringing the total to five monarch caterpillars! (click on the photos to enlarge)

I'll try to check on them and get new pictures each day.

Want to see some of these in your yard? Plant some milkweed in full sun.

This is my second year where I've had monarch caterpillars. Last year I also had some swallowtail caterpillars, but doubt I'll get any this year as all my dill and parsley died, so I don't have any food for them. Maybe next year.

Kolob Canyons, Zion National Park (or the end of a journey)

Somehow, I overlooked finishing my posts of photos from last year's summer vacation. Well, here it is... the long-awaited end to the summer journey of 2012 with my father, father-in-law, and husband. We spent our last morning before the long drive home out at Kolob Canyons in Zion National Park. Though this was my third visit to this wonderful park, it was the first time I'd been to this area. It was beautiful and we did a nice 1 mile hike to the Timber Creek Overlook, with 360 degree views at the end.

This concludes a series on our 2012 trip. In case you missed them, here are my previous posts:

• Zion: A Three Year Tradition
• Final Day in the Grand Canyon
• Little Oases in the Grand Canyon - Day 3
• The Sky In the Grand Canyon - Phantom Ranch Part 2
• Rockin' the Bottom - Phantom Ranch Part 1
• Trekking the South Kaibab Trail into the Grand Canyon
• Petroglyph National Monument and the Painted Desert

All photos copyright Katrina Kouba Boles

United States Capitol little planet

In honor of Independence Day, here's the little planet I created from our time in 2011. Head on over to my photo manipulations site if you want to purchase a print. Enjoy the holiday!