Two More Girls

Last night, the first of the last 5 larvae began the process of shedding its last skin and forming a chrysalis. And another pupa is getting ready to emerge.

On the lid of the other container is another pupa that will soon emerge as an adult monarch.

I went to bed knowing there would be two new adults to release in the morning. When Skip got up, there was one out. By the time I made it downstairs, the second had just emerged. Its wings were still wet.

One of them was ready to venture out into the outside world so I took it outside and got it to crawl onto the mint plant. Her wings (another girl - yay!) were still somewhat wet so I knew she would stay there for a few hours to prepare for flight.

One of the pupae is getting ready to emerge. The chrysalis is completely clear and the orange and black colours are showing through. I'm guessing it will emerge this afternoon.

After a couple of hours, more recent emergent crawled out and rested on the lid, getting ready to fly. The other one had flown away unobserved while I was in the house doing stuff.  I could clearly see that it was yet another girl.

She was quite large. And then she just flew away! She flew over to the tall cedars on our neighbour's property.

So that's 3 female adults and another ready to emerge today.