Thanks, Alan. It is easy to wax poetic about Monarchs, as they are so heroic in their long migration to the Mexican overwintering sites. No one can explain how they manage this great feat of navigation. It gives them an air of mystery and majesty.
Dan Matyola *https://tinyurl.com/DJM-Pentax-Gallery <https://tinyurl.com/DJM-Pentax-Gallery>* On Sat, Jun 11, 2022 at 1:24 AM Alan C <[email protected]> wrote: > Dan, a fine photo and excellent description, almost poetic at the end. > > On 11-Jun-22 06:39 AM, Daniel J. Matyola wrote: > > Each Monarch larva goes through five stages of growth, called instars, > > between the time it hatches from the egg until it enters the pupal stage. > > The larva molts at the end of each instar, so that it can grow into the > > next stage. During this process, it eats only milkweed foliage, and grows > > to almost 2,000 times its original mass. > > > > A late fifth instar Monarch will then crawl away from the milkweed plant > it > > was feeding on to find a secure location, where it forms a silk pad and > > hangs upside down in a J shape, before shedding its skin one last time to > > expose the bright green chrysalis. > > > > In this image, the larva on the right has attached its pad to the edge > of a > > clay flower pot, and has drawn itself up into the classic "J" shape. On > > the left is one that has completed the final molt to expose its > bejewelled > > green chrysalis. > > > > K-5 IIs, smc DA 35 mm F 2.8 Macro Limited > > Comments, criticisms, questions, and suggestions are invited and > > appreciated. > > > > Dan Matyola > > > -- > %(real_name)s Pentax-Discuss Mail List > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and > follow the directions. > -- %(real_name)s Pentax-Discuss Mail List To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
