Lets Get Crafty.....Butterfly Babies Are Still Arriving!

Alrighty I know we've been here but I'm doing it again ! Most of you have already read my posts on butterflies ,well most of those pictures were taken in June and July.I don't want you to think that the breeding time is exclusive to that time frame.My babies hatch out over the course of the entire summer,so Im always careful harvesting.The easiest way for me to assure myself that I'm not taking their fennel is to keep one large pot for myself but this year they said no we're taking that too! Yesterday I tried to snip a bit of Fennel and just look a whole new crop of babies in all sizes :)So I decided to show you how quickly they evolve.

When first hatched they are truly ugly little things no where near as pretty as they are once the eating has plumped them out.This one was about 1/16th of an inch if that ,a very new baby.Notice how it dosnt really look like the same bug.....well at a few hours old you weren't that cute either all babies are a bit ugly and wrinkled! I decided to take a second picture of him later on so you can see how quickly they grow up.

Late that afternoon I slipped back out and sure enough there he was munching....look how he's started to plump up and fill out .Now you can begin to see the colors and fat shape you would expect.He's now chubby enough off my Fennel that the bright colors have come out and his little "nobbies" are looking a bit less lethal .lol

By tomorrow this one will be fat ,sassy and shoving its siblings out of the way for dinner.
Heres the fine looking fellow after eating for two days....the vivid color bands are all present now.Notice that his "Spikes" are now far less pronounced and look at those chubby little legs!I hate to say it but after eating Fennel for three days they are probably quite tasty. So to keep them safe from predators I draped an old sheer curtain over the row of Fennel and secured it.Yes I go the extra mile for them ,I want to make damn sure beauties like this don't ever disappear from my realm or the rest of the world.Thats right Harobed saving Butterflies one worm at a time! hehehe

By day three (this morning) I found no hatchlings just tons of fat and happy adolescents .These will all be safely tucked into Chrysalis by day after tomorrow ,dreaming of flying ;)

So once again I was denied eating Fennel from my garden and the world is better off!