He emerged from his chrysalis, early this morning. He did everything right and he's perfect.
I left him to sort himself out until well after 2pm, then we went outside for a little photo shoot.
We have a showery, windy, day so after our photo shoot I placed him onto the 'take-off stand' I made and placed that under the roof of our deck, to allow him to hang awhile and then decide when he wanted to fly.
I have a little square of foam rubber, poked through onto the end of a toothpick, that is poked into the slab of florists foam and the butterfly clings to that. I make the little foam rubber squares on toothpicks, to give the butterflies something stable to cling to while they dry their wings and get ready to fly.
I tape a small square of bubble wrap over the top of the vase opening, to keep the marbles clean from the meconium the butterfly drops after it has emerged from its chrysalis.
Meconium (also called Pupal Liquid) is the dead cells from the gut, left over from metamorphosis, and expelled from the butterfly after emergence.
I place the take-off stand outside, under cover yet still in the open air, to allow the butterfly to cling there in safety until it is ready to fly.
Meet today's new boy in town. All pristine and pretty, and ready to go.
Click on each picture below to see a larger view.