Wednesday, March 25, 2009

A Great Mystery......

Now this has been going on for over a month.   
I am watching our butterfly bush daily....watching as the tiny caterpillars have grown fat and large.....I have watched the leaves on our butterfly bush disappear as they have munched their way to their largeness.
And I have watched monarch butterflies flitting and flying in twos and threes all around the bush........

   
But here is the mystery...... I can not find one chrysalis!  Not one!   Where are they????

The process is that the caterpillar eats the leaves and when large and fat, they attach themselves head down to a convenient twig ( convenient is a key word here ).  
They then shed their outer skin and begin the transformation into a pupa ( or chrysalis ), a process which is completed in a matter of hours. 
The pupa resembles a waxy, jade vase and becomes increasingly transparent as the process progresses.  The caterpillar completes the miraculous transformation into a beautiful butterfly in about two weeks.



It's just such a mystery to me as to where these pupas could be!  Remember the key word was 
"convenient".  They hang from a convenient twig.   
Okay...I'm heading out again to look.  They have to be there somewhere!!

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Life is definitely a mystery isn't it Marilyn...
It's so magical that anything can happen. Like Gary and your situation... How miraculous is that!

Monarch's are one of my most favorite butterflies and I have a real connection to them... I was lucky enough to be in Mexico when they started their long trek back to North America and it was... well there's hardly any words for it.

Enjoy all those caterpillars and the illusive pupa's...
Just love having those magical butterflies.
Pat

Sue said...

It is a mystery! A beautiful mystery of life.

Marilyn you must let us know if you do discover where all these pupa are hiding. The twigs may be convenient to them, but obviously not to the human eye.

I have to agree with Pattee on the Monarch being a favorite! They used to be plentiful around here and then for several years we didn't see any. Last year they were back! Wonderful!

Anonymous said...

How I wish I was there to help you look.
I wonder? Do the Monarchs from Hawaii fly all the way to Mexico.

Teresa aka Tess said...

Isn't Spring just so delightful? Hmm, I wonder if they are hanging from a different bush nearby the butterfly bush? Maybe! Those photos are so beautiful...

Tumble Fish Studio said...

These are beautiful pictures and I am always so enchanted by the butterfly's life. I have a glass box that my dad made when I was a kid and lived on a Wildlife Refuge near some farm land. On the edge of the farm where it touched the Refuge land would often grow Milkweed plants and the Monarchs loved them. Every year we would break off an already started chrysalis and put the twig piece in the glass box and watch it change until it was time to set the beautiful little creature free. Thanks for reminding me of God's perfectly beautiful little processes.
marsha

Brenda Heisler said...

We all love butterflies. So pretty and so special. Fragile but strong. Love to see children chasing butterflies.

3rdEyeMuse said...

is that a ladybug tucked in the little nook? and could your photo's be any more incredible?!? love how big and fat the cat's have gotten ... let us know if you figure out the mystery. :)

Odddollz by Jacqui said...

Amazing, beautiful and indeed a mystry....please keep us posted and you photos are incediable!!

Thanks so much for sharing

HUGZ
Jacqui