With monarch butterfly populations facing great decline I’ve enjoyed spending the past few summers helping conserve them.
Each day I'd carefully check my milkweed plants for new eggs and caterpillars, then gently transport any that I found into the safety of an outdoor enclosure. Here they were sheltered from predators but were still able to experience the natural environment throughout their entire development.
During these conservation efforts I was able to enjoy and share the process of a monarch’s complete metamorphosis. All the following photos and videos were ethically obtained while contributing in a citizen conservation project.
After emerging from an egg, a monarch caterpillar must pass five instar stages. This process involves shedding their outer skin so they can continue to grow and become a mature caterpillar.
Once the stages are complete the caterpillar will find a suitable location and begin to "J" hang.
The next step happens over 24 hours as the caterpillar liquifies internally and then finally sheds its skin one last time, transitioning into a green chrysalis.
A monarch's completed chrysalis is embellished with a shiny golden diadem and various gold spots circling the bottom portion. These spots actually contain no pigment and only appear gold from the light reflecting off them. They serve an important purpose and act as oxygen passageways, allowing air exchange to reach the cells of the developing butterfly inside.
After about two weeks, the chrysalis starts to darken and the newly formed butterfly inside starts to becomes slightly visible.
Once the chrysalis has fully darkened it briefly becomes crystal clear, indicating the monarch is ready to eclose.
The actual process of eclosing usually takes only a minute or two and the monarch emerges with a big abdomen and small wings. In this footage you can enjoy the entire process in real time;
They stay hanging upside while fluid moves from the enlarged abdomen into the wings, shrinking their new body down to regular size and expanding, forming and hardening each wing.
After a few hours the process is complete and their wings are fully formed.
Monarchs will then typically have a lifespan of about two to six weeks. However the last generation in the season will be the ones that make the migrating journey to their wintering grounds, their lifespans range from six to nine months.
Did You Know:Like some other butterfly and moth species, monarch butterflies have a specialized mouthpiece known as a proboscis. It's tubular in nature and acts similar to a straw. The monarch will probe into whichever food source it has chosen and drink its meal up through the proboscis.
Just like they need time to form their wings once they eclose, they still need to properly form this new part of their body as well. As you can see in this clip the tube is spilt into two sections but throughout a process of repeatedly curling and uncurling it they manage to form it together to make the strawlike appendage they need to survive.
Just like they need time to form their wings once they eclose, they still need to properly form this new part of their body as well. As you can see in this clip the tube is spilt into two sections but throughout a process of repeatedly curling and uncurling it they manage to form it together to make the strawlike appendage they need to survive.
