About a week and a half ago, my sister Geri emailed us to say that there were "caterpillars galore" on her crown flower plant. A few days later she said that the caterpillars had eaten most of the leaves off the plant, and she had to go and buy another one. Yesterday, two butterflies hatched from their cocoons.
I never got to see her caterpillars, but yesterday I got to take home her menagerie for a few hours so that I could take some photos.
Geri took this short video with her phone of a butterfly just after it emerged from its cocoon.
I hope to also have a video for you soon. Most of my video clips didn't turn out, but I might have a few that I can put together for you.
13 comments:
Beautiful. Just wonderful, thanks for sharing.
J: Awesome science and nature sharing. Wow this is beyond cool. But questions galore - is this a kit, where'd she get the coccoons from, how long are they in the pupae stage, will they be released. On Maui we had a crown flower tree and it was covered w/ butterflies during summer. Too bad it didn't occur to me to check for cocoons on the branches. Big Mahalo to you and Gerri. Made my day! -N
wow nice!
Those photos are awesome. I've got 9 crownflower (white) plants. The leaves grow in, the butterflies come, lay their eggs, their caterpillars eat all of the leaves, and the plants look like a bunch of sticks in the ground. The chrysalis hatch, butterflies move on, and then the leaves come back, and the cycle begins again. I think that half the time, my neighbors think I'm pathetic to have "dead" sticks in the ground!
That's really cool!
We had choke caterpillars on our Crown flower plant too - but slowly something started eating all the caterpillars! till all gone!
Thanks Jenny!
N, Geri just bought a crown flower plant from the swap meet. A butterfly laid eggs on the plant which hatched into caterpillars. After awhile Geri put the caterpillars and some leaves from the plant into a plastic container and covered it with the plastic lid which is actually some kind of aquarium filter cover. The caterpillars stuck themselves onto the lid and turned into coccoons. I think it took a couple weeks from when she noticed the caterpillars until the first one turned into a butterfly. I released the two butterflies in my yard.
Cool yah, Kat.
LOL, Lorna. Geri got two sticks in pots now too!
Awwww, too bad Dean.
J: thanks that's so awesome I really really now regret not looking at the tree. It was kinda big so they couldn't eat all of it if they tried. How lucky Geri got 'em =N
N, maybe you can go buy one plant from the swap meet too!!
so so so neat!!!!!! I"m glad they didn't turn out to the ugly spooky kind!
Very cool! You are a nature photog now.
Really yah, Les!!
Thanks, Erick!
Wow! Spectacular photos!
Thanks, Akemi!
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