Wrapping it up

[penolta]

The second crop of Monarch caterpillars have begun their transformation from caterpillar to chrysalis. This transforming caterpillar was found on a chain-link fence Monday night, and shed the larvalskin on Tuesday. Pictures 2-6 were taken between1232 and 1236 (time elapsed= 4 minutes). Chrysalis formation followed - pictures 7-11were taken between 1243 and 1423 (total time elapsed from 1232 =100 minutes). Picture 12 was taken Wednesday at 1252

K10D with Promaster 100mm macro and flash

shedding the skin:

[penolta]

Chrysalis formation

[baltochef920]

Penolta

These are SO COOL!!!

Bruce

[snostorm]

Hi penolta,

WOW! Those are great. I've seen before and after pics, but not sequenced like this, with a timeline, and I've never seen one live (Sorry -- I'm not all that observant!:-))

Is the change in shape after the skin is shed due to the caterpillar adjusting its position or body distribution inside the casing?

Is it soft at first?

Did you (or can you) touch it before it's fully formed?


Scott

[penolta]

Is the change in shape after the skin is shed due to the caterpillar adjusting its position or body distribution inside the casing?

Is it soft at first?

Did you (or can you) touch it before it's fully formed?

Scott, if these were movies you would have seen a lot of twisting and turning as the skin was being shed and then pulsations as fluid is pumped from the tail end to the front, resulting in the shortening of the chrysalis.

I didn't touch it as this is a vulnerable time for it, but you can tell that it issoft by the movements and the transparency of the skin. In the last picture the skin is thicker and less transparent, and so is probably hardening somewhat to prevent drying, but it has to be soft enough to allow it to split when the butterfly emerges.

Thanks for looking, Bruce and Scott, and for the kind words.

[mtngal]

Incredible series! What happens to the skin that the caterpillar sheds? Does it shrivel up and fall off or something else? I've never seen something like this, and haven't thought about how they go through their various stages - it's fun to watch.

[Rodney9]

Fantastic, isn't nature amazing.
Well done in your capture.

[robar]

very cool would be an understatement.

roy

[rhermans]

robar wrote:

very cool would be an understatement.

roy

totally concur

Ronny

[bilybianca]

This is an exampel where still photography beats the movies! A wonderful series, would have been pretty boring as a 2 hour film.:-)Thanks for making the effort, and posting the result.

Kjell