As mentioned in this previous post, this little Eastern Black Swallowtail caterpillar wandering around lost on our kitchen wall, after being accidentally riding a pile of Carrot fronds into the house. We quickly went and gathered some fresh carrot leaves for the poor starving critter, and dubbed him "Oliver" after the little boy in "The Four Story Mistake" by Elizabeth Enright.
Personally the fun part about Swallowtail caterpillars is that when you bop them on the head they shoot out a little orange "tongue", a warning signal that say's "stay away, and leave me alone!" It's so funny. :D Of course "Oliver" decided to go into the chrysalis while I was gone, but it was fun to see it completed. Swallowtails make a little hammock on a twig, and hang back into it, and when they shed their skin and turn into the chrysalis it turns the same color as the branch they are on. Just fascinating!
So, the other day "Oliver" hatched out a stunning and beautiful butterfly.... only "Oliver" wasn't.... "Olivia" was. Yep, my cute little caterpillar, was really a girl, as her grown up stage revealed.
Male Black Swallowtail's have a majority of yellow markings on their lower wings, while females have blue.
Anyway she was gorgeous, and since she came out on a lovely warm fall day, I was able to take her outside and let her finish drying her wings in the sunshine.
Watching the transformation of a squishy, green, land dwelling, bug, to a delicate, shimmering, sky skimming, creature, never grows old. God is truly an amazing creator.
~Chs
