Dead imago

Unfortunately, it seems that the imago that hatched didn't make it very far...last week end we found it dead underneath the pupa casing...most likely scenario: a dragonfly had it for dinner...it's nature, I know, but it's still a bit upsetting that the butterfly in the pupa we watched over so carefully didn't make it...

A miracle - the imago

We got to witness a miracle this week end - or two, really. Our pupae hatched! Obviously it only takes a second or two for the pupae to split open and we missed that, and also the moment when the imago (the actual butterfly) took off, but seeing them rest on their pupae casings was magical! Here's the series, from larva to pupa to imago...and the casing...

Change can happen overnight...

...and it does, at times. This little larva, a future Camberwell Beauty - or Mourning Cloak - was resting in our garden one day, climbing up a flower stem the next, and when I went outside to have a look at it the following morning I found a pupa...some would say it's only biology, but I think it is one of life's little miracles.