No change on the outside

Don't panic. I haven't forgotten about the butterfly. I just haven't got around to post the pictures. Although, there is no visible change. According to various sources the metamorphosis should take two to four weeks. Due to the colder temperatures at the moment my estimate is on the longer duration. Here are the photos of the last few days.

5th September

8th September

todays update

A new photo of the pupa. it seems to be a little bit darker now.

State of the pupa

Over night the pupa has fully developed. And there were no significant changes till this afternoon. As I took it out it wiggled a little I don't know if this was a defensive reaction to the movement of the stick. But I guess so. Letting the light shine through it is clearly visible that the top is almost empty at the moment.

Back to our main programme

Two new photos I took today. The first one is from this morning the second from this evening. The changes in colour and form are subtle but visible.

Ch-ch-ch-changes

This afternoon it had turned around and and buckled up. It found its final position. The first changes are clearly visible. This is exciting because I have never witnessed this process. O cause, I have seen this in documentaries before. But it is a quite different experience to see it first hand and in its real speed.

time to grow up

Yesterday evening the caterpillar had finished the big leaf. This is what was left of it.

 

The little bugger was desperately searching for a place to metamorphosise. It didn't like the horizontal stick I had put into the jar. So I added a horizontal twig with leafs and a put in a stick at a steep angle. The caterpillar took the latter option. This is how it looked like this morning.

And back on top

My caterpillar is back on the upper leaf. I guess the other one was simply to small for a decent meal. Hence I will give it a new bigger leaf tomorrow. I hope the few green leaves still available will be enough.

Alive and munching

One leaf was nearly gone, so I replaced it with a fresh one. I could position it only beneath the big one. And what do you know, the caterpillar obviously likes to hide. It snug in-between the two leaves. In the picture I folded back the top one. The fact that it's eating is a good sing. :-)

Bottoms up!

Butterfly-Experiment

I have some withering monks cress on my balcony. I just didn't have the time to get rid of it jet. And I was really surprised to find some caterpillars grasing on it. A quick research revealed the species: Gonepteryx rhamni (Common Brimstone). I decided to get one of them and put it in an open jar with some leaves and a twig where it could build its chrysalis. Now I am waiting for it to happen. This is how it looks like today. It is approximately 5 cm long.

And here a picture of the jar itself.