Butterfly Kamasutra

Poor Pearlie Pearl Crescent was horrified when I showed up with my camera just as she and Boris were trying out a few positions of the Kamasutra.  Pearlie made Boris fly away as quickly as possible, hauling her along in a most awkward and embarrassing position.  The secret lives of butterflies...revealed!

Well, in less fanciful terms, it's a pair of Pearl Crescent butterflies, mating.  Although I've managed to get several species of butterfly "in flagrante dilecto", this is not a species I've been able to photograph this way before, so it made the blip choice kind of easy.  Besides, I thought I'd spare you another Monarch...

I awoke to find 4 of my monarch chrysalis ready to pop open.  The first three (#6, #7, and #9) all eclosed (emerged) within 10 minutes of each other, around 9:30-ish this morning.  Number 8 stubbornly refused to eclose until a little after noon.  I've already released #6 and he shot straight up into the treetops, at least 100 feet up.  I'm getting ready to release the other 3 now as they are all fluttering around their enclosures, looking completely flight-ready.  And, it looks like I'll have at least 2 more tomorrow!  I am well on my way to releasing 25 monarchs this year, which is very satisfying.  Especially knowing that, in the wild, it would have been surprising if even 2 or 3 survived.  Now, all they have to do is get to Mexico...

If you want to see a close up of the clear chrysalis, just before #8 came out, check this out - you can see the wings through the chrysalis!

Thank you so very much for sending my little egg-eating monarch cat to the Popular Page, and for sharing my excitement and passion for this year's Monarch Project.  I've learned so much in the last year about these amazing creatures!

Happy Hump Day...

Debbi