A Chrysalis!

I have a chrysalis in my herb garden! "A what?", you ask. "A chrysalis", I say! Even my preschooler knows what a chrysalis is.

Actually, I had forgotten (or never actually learned...) that the pupal stage of a butterfly is a chrysalis while the pupal stage of a moth is a cocoon. Todd's preschool class did a study on moths and butterflies, and I was able to watch the progress of their caterpillars/moths as I dropped Todd off and picked him up each day. Now, we are able to do a little observation in our very own garden.

A few days ago we found this little guy. Actually, by the time we found him, "...He wasn't a little caterpillar any more. He was a big, fat caterpillar." [Name that book!] I'm also pleased that by the time we found him "...He wasn't hungry any more." I was a little worried at first that he might eat all my parsley. Though, if he had eaten all my parsley, I would have considered it an even exchange for watching his metamorphosis.

I wish that we were able to capture his "stinky, orange mad-horns" (obviously, NOT the technical name) on camera. They were so cute. Thank you, Anne, for helping me to identify this caterpillar as the future Black Swallowtail butterfly. I had thought about trying to transfer the big, fat caterpillar into a bug house and feed him until he was ready to pupate. But, the idea of feeding him once to thrice a day and dealing with his poop slowed my motivation. However, I continued to check on him a few times a day to see if he was sticking around. Where was he going to go? This is, by far, the best buffet on the block! Evidently, parsley is one his favorite foods.

I checked on him again this morning. He had moved from the parsley to my lemon balm yesterday, and was still in roughly the same place. We went out for a few hours, and when I came home I checked on our big, fat caterpillar and couldn't find him anywhere. At first, I was panicked. Why didn't I get around to putting him in a bug house? I looked a little closer, and was thrilled when I saw this! Is that what I think it is? Yes! A chrysalis!

If I had really done my research I would have recognized that this big, fat caterpillar was very close to pupating, and I wouldn't have been so surprised.

I showed Todd right away, and he was excited. However, some people have a hard time understanding what he is trying to tell them. I guess they are not expecting the word "chrysalis" to come from the mouth of a five-year-old. That, and a lot of us older folks still make that chrysalis/cocoon mistake. This is also true of a well-known author (who shall remain nameless) who explained that "He built a small house, called a cocoon, around himself . . . . and . . . he was a beautiful butterfly!" I guess he hasn't talked to any four- or five-year-olds lately!

Here is a photo of the opposite side of the chrysalis. Sorry about the glare.

Hopefully, I'll have some great photos to share with you in 10 to 14 days!

In other garden news, our grape tomato plant is doing great. We have already picked close to 15 tomatoes, and there are lots more green babies growing. It is taller than the boys--you can see Todd verifying this fact below.

We picked our first jalapeno pepper at the end of last week, and Ryan was so excited that he bit right into it. (!) Fortunately, we were right there to offer him a cool glass of milk. He declined any further bites, and Brett finished the rest of it--raw. We have about 5 baby jalapenos growing now, and I quickly need to decide what I want to do with them.

DON: I hope you enjoy the photos of our caterpillar and corresponding chrysalis. I appreciate the research you did for me when I posted about the big, fat moth. I think you were right on with your identification. I enjoyed reading about it. I still wish I could have gotten a photograph of the top of the wings!