Yesterday on a break, I went into the garden and saw a parsleyworm, or the caterpillar stage of the Black Swallowtail’s life cycle. It was metamorphosing from caterpillar to pupa, right before my eyes. It had spun the silken pad that attaches its tail to the plant. It had also spun the girdle which passed around the middle of its body and would support it.
At some point it would begin the amazing task of wriggling off its old skin. If only I had longer to play in the garden yesterday, I might have witnessed that.
I went out this morning to check on it and it looked totally different.
It is now in the very early pupa stage, something that Miss Michaela and I will watch with interest. Every time I think my garden needs to be cleaned up to look more stately and neat and orderly, and without the wild ways I let it veer toward, we see something like this and I know my garden needs not much more order than it has right now.
I’ll keep you posted.
UPDATE, 8/24/09:
I went out on my lunch break today and the pupa now looks like this:
It is becoming thinner and more papery. It has been 11 days since the caterpillar attached itself and dropped its skin. We are watching closely.
UPDATE, 08/29/09: This morning it was this after a heavy rain.
By the way, I just wanted to say today that I love to hear from my readers. Your comments make my day. I know I’m slow to respond sometimes, but I’m always reading your comments. Work just slows me down in doing the things I enjoy the most.
Happy Saturday. Working today…
Lynn
for you to leave a comment, but you can also e-mail me at lynn AT thehealthyhomeschool.com
How amazing! And, I know that the more time you spend out of doors, the more amazing things you’ll see! I haven’t been out as much lately (because of summer’s heat) and I haven’t seen as many amazing things. I did find a caterpillar yesterday and saw a slug eating a worm… at least that’s what it looked like. I’ll have to look up what slug’s eat!
Dear Lynn,
Wow, what a transformation! I can’t wait to see the butterfly. I was going to go pull up a big patch of prickly lettuce in my garden, when I noticed a spider guarding her egg sac on one. What’s a tender-hearted gardener to do?
Love,
Marqueta
Hi Lynn,
Just wanted to let you know….since you said how much reading comments makes your day:)HOW MUCH I enjoy reading your blog. I have been reading it for probably a year now. I have been so blessed over and over and it is a treat to me everyday to see what your post is about. I usually treat myself in the afternoon during our quiet time from school, with tea or a cup of coffee. I have three children… Aubrey (11), Johnny (10), and Emma (7). I have home schooled all three since the beginning. This year our oldest, Aubrey, will go to school starting 6th grade. It is a classical school. My approach has been at best eclectic too. My son has learning difficulites. Anyway, I feel kind of like I know you because of reading your blog. I just wanted to encourage you and let you know that I am always so blessed just about the real life stuff you post. I can relate so much. I home school using similar methods that you have used(FIAR, CM, field trips,etc) and am leaning more toward CM style this fall myself. I am taking it slow. I am just rambling on and on….. On a different note…I grew up in NC but live in Roanoke VA now. I stayed with an aunt in Raleigh and went to nursing school in Durham. I have a cousin who lives in the Youngsville….I’ve guessed that you are somewhere near there b/c one of the field trips you took this past year, was to a farm close to my cousins:) Anyway, I just wanted to let you know I am blessed by your simplicity, love for the Lord, love for your home and femininity, home decor, gardening, frugality, trips to GW—one of my and my husbands favorite things to do, shall I go on and on??? (smile) I click!! with ‘ya!! Thank you for all the encouragement and being real. BTW….I love the posts on workboxes….do you plan to use them in the fall? They have helped my struggling son so much. It is helping him to be more independent. Thanks for the post,b/c that is how I found out about them!
Blessings,
Hope Clark
Dana, it’s so true that the more we are out, the more we see! Summer has been so hot, I’ve not been out as much either. I do have some garden clean-up I need to do, but I won’t take away all the “wild.”
Marqueta, I know! What IS a tender-hearted gardener to do? Where would the spiders be without us?
Hope, I was so thrilled to read your comment. Isn’t it fun to find someone you can relate to? At times I get discouraged with all of my commitments and think I need to let something go. On-line time comes to mind, but then I think of all the friendships that have been begun, some going now for years, and all of the encouragement and wisdom I’ve gleaned from others, and I know that I must just continue to pace myself and be moderate in all things, so I continue to blog and read other blogs. Thank you so much for your comment. You made my day! I see we both have sons named John(?) as well – or at least close! I call mine Johnny sometimes too.
Lynn
!fascinating!
I never cease to be amazed by the Lord’s little garden creatures!! I just posted pictures of our own little caterpillar- now butterfly on my blog page. My daughter named her Marigold.
Blessings to you and your family,
Deanna
Wow! It’s so beautiful and amazing!
Deanna, I agree! I enjoyed visiting your pictures of Marigold!
Weavermom, thank you!