Over the weekend, Juan/ita crawled to the top of the tank I have him/her in and spun its “silk pad” and then hung in the “j” shape that signals it’s almost time for the caterpillar to become a chrysalis.

From Wikipedia (which has a lot of really cool pics, btw):

In the pupa or chrysalis stage, the caterpillar spins a silk pad on a twig, leaf, etc., and hangs from this pad by its last pair of prolegs. It hangs upside down in the shape of a ‘J’, and then molts, leaving itself encased in an articulated green exoskeleton. At this point, hormonal changes occur, leading to the development of a butterfly (metamorphosis). The chrysalis darkens (actually becomes transparent) a day before it emerges, and its orange and black wings can be seen.

I couldn’t find any information online about how long it would hang in the “j” shape before splitting its skin to form the chrysalis, so I just kept it on my desk and kept watching it. This morning when I woke up, like usual I went over to the neighbour’s for about half an hour and when I came back, the kids told me that the caterpillar had started molting. I was a little bummed that I missed it, but when I looked in the tank, I saw that the transformation wasn’t totally complete yet and I snapped this picture:

At the top of the chrysalis, it’s sort of lumpy still, which is the shape of the caterpillar’s butt. The little black “stem” is actually the caterpillar’s back legs and on top of that is the silk pad attaching it to the top of the tank.

Just now, when I was sure the transformation was complete and the chrysalis had long stopped shaking, I carefully opened the lid for a quick macro shot:

I wish the light had been a bit better, but with the lid of the tank being blue-tinged, even close to my lamp and a window, this was the best I could do. I didn’t want to move the tank outside for better light because I don’t want to disturb the chrysalis any more than I have to.

I wasn’t sure how long it would take to become a monarch butterfly, which was why I consulted Wikipedia and this is what it had to say:

The mature butterfly emerges after about two pupal weeks and hangs from the split chrysalis for several hours until its wings are dry (often in the morning). Meanwhile fluids are pumped into the crinkled wings until they become full and stiff. Some of this orangey fluid (called meconium) drips from the wings. Finally (usually in the afternoon) the monarch spreads its wings, quivers them to be sure they are stiff, and then flies away, to feed on a variety of flowers, including milkweed flowers, red clover, and goldenrod.

Luckily for Juan/ita (and shitty for my hayfever), the field across the road is loaded with goldenrod, so it’ll have plenty to eat when I let it go the day metamorphosis is complete.

So that was the excitement in Sunnyland today. Other than that, all I did was wash my sheets and fold laundry. How glamourous my life is, huh?