Metamorphosis, part 1

Since Anne has taken great pains to prepare an inviting garden for them, it should come as no surprise that butterflies are frequent visitors to our little corner of Old Lake Highlands.

Eastern Swallowtail caterpillar making like a comma

And since she’s also kindly provided larval host plants, such as fennel and rue, we get lots of caterpillars showing up, happily munching on their vegetation of choice,  then retiring to (usually) spots unknown to  pupate.

Same critter, 24 hours later

But occasionally we spot their chosen crannies for making the big costume change, like I did for this fellow who settled in next to the gas grill. He’ll rest comfortably (one presumes) for something like 1-2 weeks before emerging as a butterfly.

Before / After diptych

The hard part will be remembering to keep an eye on this chrysalis so I can follow up with a “newly emerged” metamorphisis part 2 post. When it happens, if I’m watchful enough to capture it, the creature will look something like this (from a photo taken several years ago):

Tags: butterflies, caterpillars, macro, metamorphosis, photography

• June 3, 2012
• bathrobe photography, macro, nature, strategy and tactics
• 9 Comments