Pretty cool to see them next to each other in different stages. There's a spot not far from my place where a small number of Monarchs spend winter but I haven't seen many there yet. I'll have to keep an eye out.
Cheers, Dave > On Jun 11, 2022, at 4:39 PM, Daniel J. Matyola <danmaty...@gmail.com> wrote: > > Each Monarch larva goes through five stages of growth, called instars, > between the time it hatches from the egg until it enters the pupal stage. > The larva molts at the end of each instar, so that it can grow into the > next stage. During this process, it eats only milkweed foliage, and grows > to almost 2,000 times its original mass. > > A late fifth instar Monarch will then crawl away from the milkweed plant it > was feeding on to find a secure location, where it forms a silk pad and > hangs upside down in a J shape, before shedding its skin one last time to > expose the bright green chrysalis. > > In this image, the larva on the right has attached its pad to the edge of a > clay flower pot, and has drawn itself up into the classic "J" shape. On > the left is one that has completed the final molt to expose its bejewelled > green chrysalis. > > http://dan-matyola.squarespace.com/danmatyolas-pesos/2022/6/11/metamorphosis > > K-5 IIs, smc DA 35 mm F 2.8 Macro Limited > Comments, criticisms, questions, and suggestions are invited and > appreciated. > > Dan Matyola > *https://tinyurl.com/DJM-Pentax-Gallery > <https://tinyurl.com/DJM-Pentax-Gallery>* > -- > %(real_name)s Pentax-Discuss Mail List > To unsubscribe send an email to pdml-le...@pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow > the directions. -- %(real_name)s Pentax-Discuss Mail List To unsubscribe send an email to pdml-le...@pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.