More Butterflies Including the Continuing Adventures of our Queen Butterflies
—Plus a Couple of Odd Chrysalises
Our Milkweeds continue to attract butterflies and I recently saw a Checkered White Butterfly feeding on our Milkweed flowers—so I illustrated it for my Perpetual Journal.
For last year’s May 28-Jun. 3 PJ entry I illustrated a gaggle of Gambel’s Quail chicks we’d been seeing and hearing. This year we’ve only seen one Gambel’s Quail chick, huddled all alone in the corner of our patio! 😬 Later that same day we noticed it was gone, so we hope & trust it got reunited with its Quail Clan. 😍
🟠 The Continuing Adventures of our Queen Butterflies
Since I know you’re clamoring (clamoring, I say!) for Queen Butterfly updates, here’s the latest scoop regarding Queen Butterflies in our yard.
H1 & H2: I’m sure 😉 you remember my May 23 post (New Teeny Tiny Little Friends) in which I shared my art of two Queen Butterfly eggs on a Milkweed leaf plus a photo of one of our Teeny Tiny Little Larva Friends after it hatched and was a whopping 1.5mm long. We called these two Queen Butterfly larvae H1 and H2 (we give letter designations (A, B, C…) to Queen larvae until (if!) they eclose (emerge as butterflies), at which point we can tell if they’re male or female and give them more “proper” names).
H1: When H1 was ready to pupate, it wandered around from Milkweed to Milkweed, finally settling on a stem from which to hang & pupate (turn into a chrysalis).
H2: H2 was a totally different story! Not only did H2 (as a larva) wander around and around and around from Milkweed to Milkweed, it kept wandering off-world to hang out on a brick wall. From our human standpoint that seemed like an odd place to pupate, so Hubby & I kept gently encouraging H2 (with the help of a trowel & a plastic spoon) to return to the Milkweeds.
After encouraging H2 back onto the Milkweeds seven times we gave up and let H2 do its thing. H2 ended up pupating on the brick wall, but (compared to “normal” Queen chrysalises that are a vibrant green color) its chrysalis was a very pale green. 🤔
H1 & H2: A week later, both H1 and H2 successfully eclosed. We determined they were both male so we named these brothers-from-the-same-mother Howard (H1) and Howie (H2). Later that day they flew off hopefully healthy and happy!
I: I has been a bit of a mystery! On June 3, we saw a 9/16” long Queen larva on one of our Milkweeds and dubbed it I. On June 4, larva I disappeared but on June 18 a 1.5” long Queen larva suddenly appeared on one of our Milkweeds and we…think…the larva was I. Yesterday, larva I started exploring other Milkweeds and our brick wall and then disappeared again!
J: J pupated (on the rim of a plant pot) 2 weeks after Howard and Howie pupated but J’s chrysalis didn’t remain green; it soon turned white. This was a first for us!
You may well wonder (as I did): why would a Queen Butterfly chrysalis turn white? Could it be due to genetics, weather/heat, camouflage, diet, health, or some other cause...? 🤔 Dunno!
I’m excited to report that 2 days ago J eclosed, and we determined that J is a female. So—we named her Joy, for all the joy our Queen Butterfly friends (through all their life stages!!!) have brought us this past year! Like H1 & H2, J eventually flew off, hopefully healthy & happy! Hooray!
Vintage 😉 Paula Art
In order to increase the art:text ratio of this post, I’m including another of my butterfly illustrations. I created this in 2016 using colored pencil and a teeny bit o’black pen.
🗨️ Comics Corner
Since today is the first day of Summer, I thought I’d share my favorite comic about the first day of Summer. 😃 Phew! It certainly feels like that here in Tucson! 🌞
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I am sure enjoying H1 & 2, I, and J stories and art, and seeing the '23 entries. Your Perpetual Journal keeps on giving--and the milkweeds!