Egg – Caterpillar – Chrysalis – Butterfly
The time it takes for an egg to hatch depends on the type of butterfly and also on the weather. It could take anywhere from less than a week to almost three. Most of what I know about butterflies and caterpillars I learned from watching my Gulf Fritillaries. I started keeping butterflies after I noticed a butterfly behaving strangely while my husband, Chuck, and I were on a nature walk. The butterfly would flutter around the passion vines, land on a leaf, twist its body so that its abdomen touched the leaf, and then fly away again. When I went to look at the sheet, I found the little yellow egg that she had deposited there! I brought the egg and leaf home and watched to see what happened. I’ve also been surfing the web (I like to call it window shopping) looking for more information on butterflies. So which came first, the butterfly or the egg? For the purposes of this article, let’s start with the egg.
EGG
The butterflies lay their eggs on plants that will feed the caterpillars when they hatch (host plants). Some butterflies lay their eggs on only one specific plant, while others may lay their eggs on more than one type of plant. Although they are different plants, they are usually from the same family. Some butterflies lay their eggs in clusters or even on top of each other. Some butterflies lay their eggs only one on a leaf or plant. Butterfly eggs are fascinating. I bought a jeweler’s loupe (the little loupe jewelers use to look at gemstones) so I could take a closer look at the eggs I found. The Gulf Fritillary egg looks like a miniature ear of corn or perhaps a barrel cactus (minus the spines).
CATERPILLAR
When the tiny caterpillar hatches, the first thing it does is start eating. Sometimes, it will even eat your eggshell! At first, it is so small; it can only eat a thin layer of the leaf. The sheet will look transparent or lacy. However, as it grows, it can chew a leaf with no problem. To me, it looks like he’s eating corn on the cob. As it eats and eats, it grows. You will overcome your skin several times during this phase. It will continue to eat its entire caterpillar cycle, except when it is shedding and during the last day before pupating. When it’s time to change the skins, it will stand still and then begin to squirm. The skin splits open on the head, and the caterpillar wriggles its way out. The Gulf Fritillary caterpillar is orange with black stripes and spines, but just after shedding its old skin, its spines are yellow until its new skin is ready. He then turns around and eats his old skin. The Gulf Fritillary caterpillar looks the same after each of its molds, but some caterpillars change their appearance from one molt to the next. When the caterpillar is ready to molt one last time into a chrysalis, it stops eating and begins to wander, looking for a suitable place to attach itself. It will undulate around, above and below nearby leaves and structures, natural and man-made. I provide passion vines for my ‘pillars and also branches for when they feel the urge. They’ll wander up and down and around for a day or two until they decide it’s time. I’ve had pillars wander off the ranch and end up in weird places. Twice the pillars have been attached to the base of our office chair pedestal and once, one has been attached to the drain grate by the kitchen sink. When one of the pillars gets restless and starts to wander, I say to my husband: “We have a messenger!” When he chooses the place where he will chrysalis, he will rest for a bit and then start laying silk. Move your head back and forth over the same spot to build a small pad to attach to. He’ll also twirl the silk to the sides (and around if it’s on a twig) to help secure the pad. When the pad is done, it will rest again and then stick to the pad. It has a special appendage at the end of its body designed specifically for this purpose. It will then slowly release the leaf or twig and finish giving a distinctive “J” shape. Not all pillars prepare to chrysalis in this way.
CHRYSALIS
As it hangs there, it starts to turn white, almost like it’s blistering. This visits the skin that is shed from the chrysalis below. The chrysalis’s head will poke through the skin and begin to wiggle and move its body in waves to move the loose skin to where it has attached itself. It will rotate until it releases the skin. At this point it has a waxy appearance until it is completely dry. After it dries, it looks like a dead leaf hanging from a twig. My Gulf Fritillaries are in the chrysalis stage, on average, eight days. If they were in the wild, they would be completely vulnerable to any predator as they have absolutely no defense. They can contract and change position. One day one will point to the left and the next day one will point to the right. When it is ready to become a butterfly, the chrysalis becomes dark and almost transparent.
BUTTERFLIES
When the butterfly is ready to emerge from its chrysalis, it will go through head first, upside down, and crawl over the empty chrysalis to hang so that its wings are at the lowest point. At this point, its antennae are resting against its body, and its wings are crinkled. As it hangs there, its wings begin to unfurl and straighten. The butterfly inflates its wings until they are smooth and flat. It then waits for its wings to dry and harden before taking off. The antennae straighten and protrude from its head. It has extra fluid in its body that it releases before it flies. This was shocking to see the first time it happened, I thought my butterfly was injured until I looked into it. On another occasion, while looking at a newborn butterfly, I thought that its tongue (proboscis) looked strange. It seemed as if he had two languages. I thought we had a mutation! Later I read that the butterfly’s tongue develops in two halves that join to form the tube through which it drinks nectar. We had a real mutation. One of our butterflies was born with only three wings. It was missing one of its hind wings. Unfortunately, he couldn’t fly. Pictures of the hatching sequence At the moment we only have passionflowers and honeysuckles in our garden. When sunflowers and zinnias were growing, we had more Gulf Fritillaries and other butterflies flying around. The adult butterfly only lives for about four weeks. During this time, they must feed and find a mate. The female must find passion vines to lay her eggs on. I have noticed that our mature vines seem to be home to at least three different types of ants, and I think that is why the female Gulf Fritillary lays her eggs on the little plant saplings that appear around the more mature plants. . Since she only lays one or two eggs per plant, the small caterpillars have a nice, tender plant to chew on and can move on to larger plants as they grow. And so another cycle begins. Butterfly eggs are found on the butterfly plant. Several of these books describe the phenomenon of the metamorphosis of the butterfly from egg to butterfly. Books on backyard bugs and creating a butterfly garden are included so you can observe this transformation first.