As the butterflies emerge from their chrysalises, I get to enjoy watching the process. I don’t always get there in time though. It seems that 10 am is a good time for eclosion. Everyone agrees. Today I had both a gulf fritillary and a monarch make their debuts. I checked the monarch for OE, and I wasn’t expecting good results since she was in the same enclosure of a heavily infested monarch. To my surprise, she was OE negative. So off she went.
I hadn’t looked at the scales of a fritillary under the microscope, so I took a little sample before releasing this one.
I did my little scotch tape technique of rubbing a piece carefully on the abdomen. I then took the tape and applied it to microscope glass. I was surprised at how pretty these scales were. The colors were vivid, and the scales somehow seemed daintier than a monarch’s.
She seemed a little peeved by the process. I let her go and she immediately flew into our swimming pool. She managed to get herself out and fly away. She’ll have a story to tell at the butterfly campfire.
Buzzing Blossoms 