Butterfly Garden in Action!

This is officially my new obsession. On my way back from Eugene, I stopped by on Useppa to close up the house and - okay - check on the butterfly garden. Everything is blooming and butterflies are out in the dozens. The Pipevine planted in March has  grown to over 20 feet tall, rapidly covering the trellis put in place just for its use. The black with yellow stripe Polydamas are out in the dozens. They were rubbing tails (i.e. mating) and laying eggs. It is beyond description to see them transition from flittering about to folding their wings and carefully hovering to lay the tiniest of golden eggs in precisely strict clustered lines. 

                          

The  eggs hatch a couple of weeks later. What's unique for this species is that the small golden caterpillars that emerge remain in a cluster as they travel along eating in an ever moving pack. It's not unusual to watch them cause multiple giant leaves to simply vanish. As they transition from 1 to 3 inches, they separate from each other to more easily satisfy their appetites. 

                      

At this point the most miraculous transformation occurs. The small golden mass eventually becomes individual large black gold spotted caterpillar and then a hairy looking creature of about three inches long. Slowly it attaches a strong silk filament to a stem and spins its cocoon (chrysalis), hiding within the tan and yellow structure for weeks as it metamorphosis back to the black and yellow butterfly. 

                     

   Here you can see the relative size of egg to chrysalis. To me, and all those kindergarten and first graders, the process is as close to magic as I've witnessed in the natural world.  

                                

If you missed this  natural science section (maybe you had chicken pocks that week),  feel free to visit the butterfly garden and see it for yourself. It's mesmerizing. You will see the world around you through an entirely different, magical lense.