Tag Archives: butterfly

Harvester Butterfly

Further along the trail, we spotted this Harvester butterfly (Feniseca tarquinius). They are found in swampy and woodlands areas all along the northeast US and Canada. Unlike Murray (our monarch butterfly) who has five instars, Harvesters catepillars are hungry larvae … Continue reading

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Bon Voyage Murray

At about 7 am today, I introduced Murray to my garden flowers. After briefly climbing on to my fingers, I placed him onto an hydrangea. It was quite cool this morning so Murray was not anxious to fly away just … Continue reading

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Some More Murray

This photo is about 1 hour before Murray poked his head out of his pupa. You can see that the pupa is black ( the stage immediately preceding emergence). The second photo was taken just after Murray shed his pupa. … Continue reading

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Happy Birthday, Murray

Murray emerged as a beautiful monarch butterfly at about 10:15 pm this evening. Here he is drying his wings. You can see the spent pupa (now transparent) hanging from the silk button. And Murray is indeed a male. See the … Continue reading

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Murray at Day 11

Murray continues to develop. His pupa is turning darker. The image on the left is from early in Day 11. You can see that his wings are nearly fully developed and are colored the way the adult monarch will appear. … Continue reading

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Murray Has Wings

It is the end of  day 10 and the pupa is darkening. You can clearly see Murray’s wings through the pupa case. Most often, the adult should begin emerging at day 10. However, Murray can develop in his pupa for … Continue reading

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Murray at Day 6

No obvious changes to Murray at day 6 during his stay as a pupa. No point in taking any photos. However, there was a big change in Murray’s location. Because we will be away, Murray has been relocated to the watchful … Continue reading

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Murray at Day 2 as a Pupa

The pupa has hardened and will stay this way until it turns black in about a week. This is an indictor that the butterfly is about to reveal itself. You can now clearly see the gold and black “beads” around … Continue reading

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Murray is Now a Pupa

As a caterpillar, Murray had a green casing under his skin. He sheds the outer skin and reveals the green pupa, or chrysalis. He is still stuck to the twig and will hang this way until adulthood. You can now … Continue reading

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The “J”

I moved Murray to a better location so I could take his picture without interference. You can clearly see the white button attached to the twig. He will be in this position for 14-18 hours before he sheds his skin … Continue reading

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