The Variegated Fritillary (Euptoieta claudia) eggs collected on May 15th have finally reached maturity and have begun going into chrysalis.Thankfully they were worth the wait. Look at these little gems. Unfortunately the camera just could not truly capture the iridescence of these tiny chrysalis. They are smooth along their backs and bumpy along the undersides.
The small point on the undersides of the chrysalis are reflective gold much like the chrysalis of the Common Crow butterfly which I discussed in this post.
Beside these little beauties we currently have a wealth of Polydamas swallowtails and Monarch butterflies that have gone to chrysalis in the last few days. Additionally we have a group of about 25 Giant Swallowtail caterpillars that are quite large and should going to chrysalis any day now. Summer is exciting in the butterfly garden.
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