Have you ever watched a caterpillar molt or shed its skin? It's really cool! These are monarch caterpillars, but all species of butterfly and moth larvae do this at least five times.
First they spin a silken pad under themselves.
Then, in muscular movements, after they've pumped enough fluid between the old and new skin, they wriggle out, head first.
The head capsule soon falls off (the caterpillar often has to rub or knock it off), revealing a lighter face that will darken within a couple of hours. Usually, after it's "rested", the caterpillar will turn around and eat its old skin. Not all species do this, and not all species that usually do this will eat their skin every time.The last time they molt, the pupa is revealed. Most moths, and only a few butterflies, will first spin a cocoon, pupating shortly after the cocoon has been constructed.
It's truly fascinating to watch! --LKR
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How many of your monarchs made it? (to butterflies)
We usually raise hundreds of Monarchs alone each year. This year, there was a "shortage" of butterflies here in western Wisconsin, partly due to the late start of spring, and also for an abundance of parasites, especially parasitic wasps. (I never finished a post about this--it was a busy summer!)
We only had around 100 that reached adulthood, and lost five or six. (Normally, the ratio of loss is lower for us, probably because we raise most of ours from eggs so they're out in the wild for less time and the exposure to parasites is lower.)
Sadly, one pupa somehow fell into the paws of our curious kitten, and four or five emerged as parasites (the ones that look like flies). I know it happens, but this was a first for us, and we've been raising them *indoors* for 12 years!!!
Usually for us, Red Admirals are the ones that get the most parasites (the ones that emerge from their bodies even before they pupate--it's gross!!!). When I worked at Beaver Creek, it was the Fritillaries that were plagued the most, but they all had overwintered outside in the larval stage and therefore were exposed to parasites the most.
Thanks for visiting my sites, Nina! I'll try and finish the posts I started over the summer and get them up here! :-)
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