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I can’t believe these Eastern Black Swallowtail Chrysalises are still alive. It’s been nearly 7 months, but we had another Eastern Black Swallowtail hatch today.
.jpg "Eastern Black Swallowtail Hatching After Almost 7 Months")
Eastern Black Swallowtail Hatching After Almost 7 Months
We took the Butterfly outside to warm up in the sun, but the sun never appeared. Once it became clear it was going to rain, we brought the Butterfly back inside and plan on releasing it tomorrow.
by texdr
Shannon - It is still so unbelievable to me how they take so long to hatch. Nature is amazing. Seven months in that little shell and then a butterfly emerges.April 20, 2010 – 11:06 pm
JOHN BURTON - Were the Swallowtail chrysalises kept outside during the seven month period? Also are the Swallowtail chrysalises much different than the Monarch’s?
I live in League City and by this time last year there were many Monarchs and larva around. This year I haven’t seen a single one. I guess the flooding and temps in Mexico were devastating to the population?April 23, 2010 – 8:07 am
texdr - The Swallowtail chrysalises were kept inside during the 7 month period. We just had another hatch yesterday.
The Swallowtail chrysalises “look” much different than the monarch. I probably have some closeup pictures of them on my blog somewhere.
This year, at least for me, has been horrendous for the Monarchs. We have only seen maybe 3 Monarch butterflies total, and only one of those laid eggs. Of those eggs, 10 made it to the caterpillar stage and only 7 made it to the chrysalis stage. This is by far the worst I’ve ever seen it. Hopefully for the Monarchs that did lay eggs at other places will produce healthy offspring.April 23, 2010 – 9:35 pm