Flickr Lounge: jigsaw puzzle image

All photos were taken in my backyard; photos of the J-shaped caterpillar through the emerging young butterfly were the same female monarch. Beginning at center left and moving clockwise: female laying egg (ovipositing) on common milkweed; egg about ready to hatch and first-instar caterpillar; second instar caterpillar; later instars; caterpillar in J shape ready to form chrysalis the following day; the chrysalis in three stages; right center: the chrysalis on the rainy morning of the day she eclosed in the early afternoon; bottom row (left to right): the first few minutes out of the chrysalis, wing expansion; middle photo: all she needs now is drying time, as her wings have fully expanded and she has excreted the excess fluid onto the leaf beneath her. She took her first flight the next morning.

With Flickr down for the day, a rainy day locally, and taking a day between work projects, I decided to play around with making some collages (through canva.com) with some "themed" photos, and this was an obvious one. Unfortunately I've never observed, much less photographed, monarchs mating, but the rest of the metamorphosis cycle is included here. The collage was arranged by hand, by the way, with photos enlarged or made smaller and moved into place, not set to a grid. Please forgive any imperfections.

Tags:   collage butterfly collage monarch butterfly monarch collage monarch metamorphosis butterfly

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A female monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) oviposits (lays an egg) on common milkweed.

For the whole monarch sequence, from egg laying to caterpillar to chrysalis, emerging new butterfly, and adult butterflies (all shot outdoors): www.flickr.com/photos/cherylmolin/albums/72157677703448827

Tags:   female monarch monarch butterfly butterfly laying egg monarch ovipositing insect Danaus plexippus monarch

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Not a good shot, I know; I'm uploading it for reference only. I looked for an egg this summer, hoping to be able to take a shot with the Raynox. While I did see eggs in two shots I took of other things (!), I never saw one in the field and will have to wait for another summer. (Unfortunately they are usually laid on the bottom of leaves, and milkweed leaves are filled with toxic latex and I avoid touching them. That makes it tricky to look for eggs, and eggs are tiny and in short supply. So it's a measure of "luck" to find one, though it's easier, as here, when the milkweed is in your own backyard and you're looking at it every day for insects and other interesting finds.)

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She's laying an egg on swamp milkweed.

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This is the egg the monarch was laying in the previous shot. I've actually looked for monarch eggs the last three summers, and while I've occasionally seen one in my photograph of a plant later, I haven't found any in the field. So I was happy to see her giving me one. I forgot just how tiny these things are, and getting it in focus handheld isn't the easiest challenge, especially with a bit of a breeze. Hopefully I can get another shot or two once the insect is showing within the egg.

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