Mostly Butterflies

Today's blog will be mostly butterflies, not because there was an abundance of butterflies, but because shortly after I went outside thunder started rumbling, so I didn't get to finish my bug walk, and mostly what I had by then was butterflies.

First up, today's monarch:

 

 He was already flying around the enclosure when I got up this morning, so he did not stick around for pictures when I released him, and flew right away, high up into a tree.

 Before I released him

 

 The last two caterpillars became chrysalides today, one, as I showed yesterday, on the plastic rack (and it was stuck to the lower rail for most of the day, which was a problematic situation, but when it fully hardened it came unstuck), and the other on one of the plants that was left. This is only the second time a caterpillar has chosen one of the milkweed cuttings as a place to pupate, and the one that did that last year had a mishap as a result: one of the other caterpillars ate the leaf it was hanging on when it was still in the J position, and it fell. But at that point the caterpillar can't do anything, it can't crawl away and choose a new spot, it is already dissolving inside. I didn't know what would happen to it, but it became a chrysalis lying down. I then hung up the chrysalis, and the butterfly was fine. This one doesn't have that problem. The other curious thing is the two caterpillars that chose to pupate on the plastic rack that holds the plant cuttings. Every other caterpillar I have raised has gone up to find a place to pupate. I don't really know where monarchs choose to pupate out in the world, because I have never seen a monarch chrysalis in the wild, but in the enclosure they always have crawled to the top (except for one that escaped once and became a chrysalis attached to an item of clothing that my husband had left draped over a chair in the dining room). So it's weird to me that they two went for such a low spot. Anyway, now I have no more caterpillars, and a few more chrysalides in various stages of development.

Backyard Bug of the Day:

 Eastern tailed blue butterfly. The dorsal side of its wings is blue, which I could see as it was flying around, but it didn't even give me a peek as it was sitting on the ground. I couldn't get closer than this because of the problem with my knee, which makes if very hard to take pictures that are low to the ground.

Other Bugs:

 Pearl crescent butterfly

 Potato beetle larva

 White marked tussock moth caterpillar. This one looks like it's about ready to pupate.

Arachnid Appreciation:
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 The funnel web spider has her lair to herself again.

Her web is full of fallen leaves. The weather feels like summer (in the 90s again today, as it has been most of the week), but some of the trees have decided it's autumn.