Back in June I posted some pictures of a Black Swallowtail Chrysalis. Well, I am happy to report that yes, indeed a butterfly was born! It was fun to actually see all the stages and witness the metamorphism. I was starting to think that the butterfly would never hatch. I had researched and found that it would take about 10 days. Well, ten days came and went and then another four or five, I started losing count. Then one evening I heard something rattling. It was the butterfly! Although we missed the actual event of it emerging from the chrysalis, it was here! Yay! I didn't kill it, which I was beginning to wonder.
We watched it for awhile before setting it free. That was the hard part, setting it free. Although that was the right thing to do, I had become attached to it, carefully nurturing the caterpillar and chrysalis so it would turn into the beautiful creature it was destine to become. Talk about beautiful, that it was. The picture I took doesn't do it justice at all. I only had a few seconds to capture it before it decided to take flight.
Since then, I have seen countless Swallowtails and Monarchs and other butterflies, but have yet to see another Black Swallowtail. Stay tuned I am nurturing another caterpillar which might turn into a Privet Hawk Moth if I successfully identified the caterpillar. I also have several butterfly pictures and other interesting insects I have captured in my lovely backyard habitat.
