A bunch of "almost" butterfies...

Monarch chrysalis in the wild

I photographed this Monarch (Danaus plexippus) chrysalis last night at the home of John and Jean Mitchell.  John is the president of board of directors for the Chippewa Watershed Conservancy.  I was at John's home for a committee meeting.  The board of the CWC often breaks into smaller committees to handle matters that do not require the attention of the entire board of directors.  The meeting last night was to discuss land acquisition and stewardship.  Before the meeting John asked me about some insect burrows along the edge of their driveway.  I didn't see any insects, but from what he described and the shape of the burrows I am pretty confident that they have mining bees.  Right above the mining bee nests, John pointed out the Monarch chrysalis hanging in a juniper.  I rarely find chrysalises in the wild so this was a rare treat for me.

Meanwhile, at home...

We have thirty-two Monarchs is some stage of development.

Monarch chrysalis

We have eleven chrysalises (or chrysalids).

Monarch hanging in a J

Three are in the J stage where they hang upside sown from a "button" of silk attached to the tip of their abdomen.  In this stage they are close to sloughing off their exoskeleton and becoming a chrysalis.  They may remain in a J for a day or more before becoming a chrysalis.

"buttoning" caterpillar and chrysalises

We currently have two caterpillars that are "buttoning".  In this stage they are adhering their abdomen to a solid surface with a web of sticky silk.  This button has to be strong enough to support their weight when they hang from it.  In the picture above you can see not only a caterpillar buttoning, but also several chrysalises attached by silk buttons.

Monarch caterpillars

Finally, we still have sixteen caterpillars (or more - I may have missed a couple) still munching away happily on Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) leaves.  Many of these are in their third or fourth instar.  An instar is a growth phase that a caterpillar goes through.  At the end of each instar the caterpillar must shed its exoskeleton for a newer more flexible exoskeleton that will stretch as it grows.  Monarch caterpillars go through five instars before shedding their exoskeleton on final time to become a chrysalis.

Monarch caterpillars on Common Milkweed in our rearing container.  How many can you see in this photo?

On September 16th, we will have all of our Monarchs at the Ziibiwing Center for their annual Monarch Butterfly Celebration.  If you are in the Mt. Pleasant area be sure to stop by between noon and 4:00PM.