#butterfly pupae

[farmerstrend]

Butterfly Farming in Kenya: The Untapped Potential

Kenya is home to a thriving butterfly farming industry. The industry began in the 1990s as a way to generate income and conserve the country’s forests. Today, the industry is worth millions of dollars and employs thousands of people. However, the industry is not without its challenges. Many farmers complain that the government is not doing enough to support the sector. They also say that the…

[revretch]

We should really appreciate the variety in pupae more.

Like, here we have flies doing the absolute bare minimum. It's just a pod. Fly grows inside a pod, that's it.

Butterfly chrysalises seem to have the same minimalism...but then you look closely, and can see the future butterfly parts are all outlined.

And then you have beetles just making a whole balloon animal shape to grow into.

(Beetle pupa source: http://maria.fremlin.de/stagbeetles/pupation/pupation_captivity.html )

[miyrumiyru]

I turned rocks over and turns out it was a best decision of my life

Can't wait to meet them in spring!

Indian Cabbage White (Pieris canidia)

[crowbitz]

my freakshow butterfly girl i keep doodling

[bowie-amia1]

Monarch Butterfly Chrysalis

[wise-emperor]

[cheezyharu]

Spitefully redesigned Pupa in a single day cause I can do that now I guess.

[l-gummy-l]

Ahem, well, more monster Marco:

Tom does not look right I know shh it's okay me

[visualflood]

Metamorphosis captured: fascinating pictures of butterfly pupae by Levon Biss — Visualflood Magazine

[revretch]

All the other moths make these elaborate cocoons in all different shapes--some even make one big cocoon together!--but butterflies just had to be like, "Nah, I'll just be super hard"

[movedtoacolorlessworld]

damn

[crowbitz]

fam pic

[blackswallowtailbutterfly]

Papilio polyxenes--Black Swallowtail Butterfly Part 1

Been some years since I've raised these, but it was a fantastic experience to do so! All photos are mine, most unedited, except for the one on the chicory plant because it was pretty dull lighting and I wanted to bring out the colour.

They caterpillars were munching away in my grandmother's raised herb garden, so I took them in and raised them. Then when they hatched I put them on various flowers in her garden. In college when I brought the last of the season's pupas with me, I put the ones that hatched on the wildflowers outside.

The caterpillars have five instars (some people say only three; I say they aren't paying enough attention). They start off looking like bird shit and with each moult they get stripier until they're green or white with black stripes that have yellow spots. Then eventually they choose a spot, take a massive shit, string themselves up, do a dance, shuck their skin and then harden.

The pupas are either green or brown depending on their environment. They aren't completely immobile. They will jerk about if something irritates them.

When the butterflies hatch it takes a little time for them to work up to flying. In that window, you can stage them and get your photos in before they take off.

The darker adults with the larger blue areas are female and the ones with the broader yellow stripes are the males. Most of mine ended up female. I personally think the females are prettier with their black and blue, but the males are still very attractive butterflies as well. See him face on the red geraniums. :)

Hand pictured is mine. lol

[lordpotet]

Metamorphosis.

Yūsuke was really into bugs as a kid. Especially butterflies. He wanted to become one when he grew up. Something he was bullied for a lot at school. Only girls want to become butterflies when they grow up.

His father said:

“They don’t know what they are talking about. Of course, boy butterflies exist. Girl butterflies need boy butterflies to make eggs, which turn into caterpillars, then pupae and then, more butterflies. Butterflies could not exist without both boy and girl butterflies. They don't have all the facts, so don't listen to them”

Yūsuke had great parents, which he lost at the age of 8.

…

Yūsuke was put into a good foster home at the age of 14 and was officially adopted 6 months later.

At the age of 21, he has moved into his own apartment and is studying to become a forensic technician.

He sadly didn’t become a butterfly due to the things that happened to him in his pupa state, but he became a really beautiful moth.

Yūsuke is 26 at the start of his story, in the book series I’m currently writing on, and a fully trained forensic technician.

[jswaltherphotos]

Amazing how the color changed with the angle and amount of light!