Yesterday, the Monarch butterfly chrysalis that I have been carefully avoiding when I pick my green beans since September 6th, looked like this. It was cold this morning, 40 degrees, so I didn't know if anything exciting would happen today even though it was sunny.
It was about 3:00 in the afternoon when I took the camera out to the garden to check on the butterfly.
The chrysalis was empty.
There below the chrysalis on the wire fence was the butterfly. In spite of the wind the butterfly maintained a firm grip on the wire. I took lots of out of focus pictures hoping to get one with its wings extended. Finally I got a chance to see that this Monarch is a Princess. The two scent glands that mark Monarch males are not there.
Isn't she a beauty? This was definitely worth the wait. She doesn't need the fence any more. Tomorrow I can pick all the green beans that are ready.
Before I came in the house she had fluttered to the ground. The last time I saw her she had climbed up a lily stalk to get as much sun as possible on those gorgeous wings. I never realized that she would have such a beautiful face!
4 comments:
I like your kind of princess better than the Disney kind! So beautiful! Glad to see your post, too!
VERY nice! Thanks for sharing. We just don't get enough butterflies around here.
What a beautiful picture of the chrysalis with the butterfly inside! We have a lot of milkweed right by the house, and it's been so much fun watching the monarchs. We raised a couple caterpillars in a butterfly cage as well for the kids, so they've enjoyed that. So pretty!
I've never seen a chrysalis, how very cool.
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