Celebrating the ordinary
Indian Pink (Spigelia marilandica) has become one of my favorite native Kentucky wildflowers. I added it to my shade garden last summer. The bright red, yellow-tipped blooms in late May and early June are quite dramatic.
And the attractive, dark green foliage will add texture to the shade garden throughout the summer.
Indian Pink is a beautiful plant that does well in dry shade, is about 18″ tall, and is not invasive. It definitely meets my criteria for a favorite native wildflower.
It was a delightful surprise last week to discover two Mourning cloak butterflies (Nymphalis antiopa) feeding on my common milkweed blossoms. I was happy they stayed long enough for me to get my camera.
One soon flew away, but the other allowed me to get good views of the under and upper sides of its wings. I can see how the upper side could resemble a traditional cloak that was worn when one was “in mourning,” hence the name.
I find it interesting that while most adult butterflies live two to three weeks, Mourning cloaks live for about ten months. They emerge in summer, overwinter in woodpiles or under bark, then mate and lay eggs in early spring. Since their wings were in such good condition, I’m guessing my visitors were born this year.
According to what I read, Mourning cloaks are common though not abundant throughout North America. I have seen them twice before – once in Glacier National Park and once in Tennessee. I’m glad to add them to my list of backyard butterflies.
As I passed the butterfly cage on Saturday, I happened to notice a small crack in the chrysalis. I quickly grabbed the camera, hoping to catch what I knew was about to happen.
In less than a minute, the black swallowtail butterfly had emerged. The wings were small and crumpled, and the abdomen was very large.
The butterfly gradually pumped fluid from its abdomen into its wings. Within five minutes it looked more normal, however the wings were still too soft for it to fly. It hung upside down while the wings hardened, and within a couple of hours it began to open and close them.
The yellow of the top wings let me know this was a male. Female’s wings have more blue, as in the photograph on my previous swallowtail blog post.
When I took it outside, the butterfly quickly flew away and was soon out of sight.
I’m amazed to think that thirty-two days ago a tiny caterpillar emerged from an egg. That caterpillar quickly grew, made a chrysalis, and this beautiful butterfly emerged. I’m grateful to once again have witnessed this transformation.
The caterpillar has changed a lot in the last week. Here it is 19 days after it emerged from the egg. It is about two inches long, and in my opinion, quite handsome.
Later that day it stopped eating and was still. Soon there was a yellowish stain and greenish stuff at the bottom of the cage. Caterpillars often empty their gut before making a chrysalis.
The next day the caterpillar wandered about the cage, apparently looking for a place to make its chrysalis. Finally it attached itself to the parsley plant (see above) and stayed this way for about 24 hours.
On day 21, I checked the caterpillar often, hoping to see it change into a chrysalis. From previous experience, I know that once the process begins, the caterpillar sheds its skin in a matter of minutes and reveals the chrysalis underneath. However, I missed the actual change and returned to find this chrysalis.
According to The Life Cycles of Butterflies, “During the chrysalis phase, the caterpillar liquefies inside the chrysalis and reorganizes, almost magically transforming into a butterfly. Even after decades of research, all the details of this metamorphosis are not completely understood.” I find all this quite amazing.
This book by Judy Burris and Wayne Richards is one of my favorite butterfly references and their website, ButtterflyNature.com, is another excellent source of information.
Now I wait, and hope to have a butterfly in a week or two.
The black swallowtail caterpillar has changed significantly since last week. Instead of being dark with a white patch, it now has light green and black stripes with yellow spots.
Yesterday, I noticed the caterpillar was very still and wasn’t eating. I wondered if it was okay. Looking closer, I found it was beginning to molt (shed its old skin).
Caterpillars have a tough skin called an exoskeleton. The skin doesn’t expand, so the caterpillar must shed its old skin to grow bigger. The black blob in this image is the old skin. The caterpillar also sheds its face mask, so its face is quite pale at first. The feet are initially white, but turn black later.
A bit later, the caterpillar ate its old skin. This is common and it is a way for the caterpillar to reuse the nutrients in the old skin. This seems rather yucky to me, but it’s a good example of recycling!
Here’s the caterpillar in its new skin. 14 days after it hatched it is an inch long – 4 times longer than it was a week ago. Talk about a growth spurt!