MONARCH PUPATING, PART 2
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This is part 2 of 3 videos of this Monarch caterpillar pupating, and it needs a little explaining first. The caterpillar had originally formed its J-curve in our protective mesh tent outside. Unfortunately it attached itself to the zipper, so when I unzipped the tent it severed the silk pad connecting the caterpillar, and the caterpillar fell into one of the pots below. I moved it into the garage and secured the silk strands to something else, but the cremaster (wick-like structure between the chrysalis and silk pad) was no longer in its "normal" condition. I think this made it difficult for the chrysalis to shake off the old skin -- something they typically have no problem doing. After it struggled with this for a few minutes I worried it was going to expend all its energy on this and wouldn't be able to form correctly, so I intervened. Very carefully I pulled the old skin off with a pair of tweezers, and you can see an immediate and radical change in the "disposition" of the chrysalis. In part 3, the chrysalis starts to take on its final shape.