Super excited to see my first Monarch chrysalis up close, hanging right next to the completely munched-up butterfly weed. That golden thread is just gorgeous, but this photo doesn't do it justice. Hoping to catch another photo when it starts to emerge.
When I first glanced at the post but hadn’t read the text yet the first thing that came to mind was “why is Krebs posting a photo of a medieval helmet?”
Amazing photo and very cool to be able to watch it emerge
@BrianKrebs The emerging (eclosing) never gets old, to be sure! A marvel of nature. ❤ ...however... the brownish tinge worries me--it's usually the sign of a parasite inside. I hope and pray that's just the lighting.
Edited to add that I'll bet that's not the lighting but a chrysalis that was attacked by a tachinid fly because that looks like the tachinid's string dangling from its head. If that chrysalis is outside, then the fly maggot got away to pupate and attack another monarch, alas. If that was inside a pen, you could look for a dark brown pellet somewhere on the floor. Smoosh that damn thing. If it has freshly emerged, it might still look like a white maggot or a white pellet in the process of turning brown. Your baby's dead, sorry to say.
I am crazy about my milkweed patch. One year I was lucky/nerdy enough to set up a time lapse. It helped that the cocoon was right in the breezeway on our badminton set:
noplasticshower
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Graham Sutherland / Polynomial
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Joe Bauers
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Sterling
in reply to BrianKrebs • • •Very cool.
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Bill Lloyd
in reply to BrianKrebs • • •Jeff Smith
in reply to BrianKrebs • • •wild!
When I first glanced at the post but hadn’t read the text yet the first thing that came to mind was “why is Krebs posting a photo of a medieval helmet?”
Amazing photo and very cool to be able to watch it emerge
Radio Free Trumpistan likes this.
Radio Free Trumpistan
in reply to BrianKrebs • •@BrianKrebs
The emerging (eclosing) never gets old, to be sure! A marvel of nature. ❤
...however...
the brownish tinge worries me--it's usually the sign of a parasite inside.
I hope and pray that's just the lighting.
Edited to add that I'll bet that's not the lighting but a chrysalis that was attacked by a tachinid fly because that looks like the tachinid's string dangling from its head. If that chrysalis is outside, then the fly maggot got away to pupate and attack another monarch, alas. If that was inside a pen, you could look for a dark brown pellet somewhere on the floor. Smoosh that damn thing. If it has freshly emerged, it might still look like a white maggot or a white pellet in the process of turning brown.
Your baby's dead, sorry to say.
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Radio Free Trumpistan
in reply to Radio Free Trumpistan • •My camera had focus issues at the time, but this is what a healthy chrysalis coloring up is supposed to look like--no brown whatsoever.
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minorbeatrice
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