Emergence

At last!

Backyard Bug of the Day:

 Monarch butterfly, female.

But let's back up a bit:

 This is how the chrysalis looked at around ten o'clock this morning.

 And this is how it looked around 4 o'clock in the afternoon.

 Then this is how it looked around 8:30 or 9 o'clock in the evening. Note that the expansion joints have popped.

 In case you don't know what I mean by that. Usually that's a sign that the butterfly is coming out soon, but at this point I was sure that the butterfly was infected, and was unable to come out.

 Then at about 9:30 p.m. I walked past the enclosure, and there she was, having just eclosed within about a minute, I think. Notice how big and puffy her body is. It is full of fluid, which will be pumped into the wings to straighten them out.

 The proboscis is in two separate pieces, and one of the first things they do when they come out is line them up and stick them together. I really don't know how that works. Also, you can see a droplet of green liquid on the inside of the chrysalis. I am not sure what that is, but I would guess it's whatever makes the whole thing look green during the pupation process.

The butterfly looks really small to me, and her legs don't look quite right, so I don't know how well she is. I can't release her at night with the temperature so low, so we'll see how things look in the morning.

Other Bugs:

 Flower fly

 This is a pretty cool looking fly, but I can't really show you that, because most of the pictures look kind of like this.

 Candy striped leaf hopper

 I saw another velvet ant, and took a lot of pictures, but, well, they mostly look pretty much like this.

The goldenrod remains a popular dining spot for pollinators:

 Virginia ctenucha moth and honeybee

 Bumblebee

 

Wasp:

 Honeybee and flower fly

This fly is covered with pollen, and what I can't understand is how is it not irritating to have pollen all over your eye?

 Tree cricket

 Woolly bear caterpillar

 I am guessing this is a lacewing larva, or something similar, covered in fluff as camouflage.

 Leaf hopper

 Assassin bug nymph

 Banded tussock moth caterpillar

 White hickory tussock moth caterpillar

 Hoppers with ant attendants.