Saving Pupa
>> Sunday, October 26, 2008
Today was a quiet day at work, but after work was fantastic. I went to my favorite beach, Brewers Bay, out by the university and came across something very exciting... I was looking at all the lovely monarch caterpillars munching on milkweed and lo and behold, PUPAE. 
Pupa is a fancy way of saying the third stage of an insects life. In the butterfly life-cycle, this is known as the chrysalis. It is a cocoon for moths... well there are a few exceptions, but I digress. These were lovely monarch chrysalises. Being the butterfly defender that I am, I had to take them to save them from unknown fate. We are actively breeding butterflies in St. Thomas, so we try to save the pupae (plural for pupa) in case they fall off the plant, get eaten, etc.
Aren't they lovely? See the beautiful gold crown? That's why they are called monarchs! I got quite the haul. Did you see how many were on one leaf? So now I will mount them since they need to hang and keep them till they emerge and release them. I am so excited!
