"The female had been in a chrysalis that I found at Hobsonville Marina, Auckland, last week when we were there. I spotted a cluster of swan plants across the compound and, upon closer inspection, saw three fat caterpillars and the chrysalis. The problem was that the plants were in a direct and strong wind funnelling between buildings, that was blowing them around a lot. The caterpillars seemed strong, but the chrysalis was hanging from a swan by a single silken thread and was swinging wide in the wind. I could imagine how the emerging butterfly might be blown down from the chrysalis, as it slid out, only to have its wings damaged and perhaps not able to fly. I wrapped the chrysalis gently in tissue, that we had in our car, and transported it home with us - a four hour journey. I hot melt glued the cremaster (the little black tip on the top of the chrysalis) to the end of a toothpick and poked the toothpick into my florists foam block with the other chrysalis's. There it hung until its emergence 3 days later. A perfect female - just lovely." |
This one flew onto a cineraria plant at first, then went up onto the leaves of a small tree. It was a sunny day, so I thought that was that.
We then went out for the day and came home after dark, so I didn't see her again that day.
This morning I opened the curtains and looked across to the small tree and, guess what?
Nestled in and hanging perfectly sheltered under a leaf, part way down the tree, was the Westie female.
She had not flown off and, as I write this, there she stays. It's a cold, damp day so perhaps we'll be seeing her for a bit longer.
Click on each picture to see a larger view..........