THE UNFINISHED CYCLE OF A BUTTERFLY!

_{Edited on Canva}

My husband was watering the plants every morning when he noticed that one of the plants' leaves looked like it was eaten by something. So he checked each stem individually and discovered a 3-inch green-colored worm.

He called us and show the eating larva. I told him to take the worm off the plants to save some of the plant's leaves that remained but he didn't like the idea of killing it. Plus he wanted to witness how it will evolve into a beautiful butterfly.

_{Date: 3-26-22}

The life cycle of a butterfly is wonderful and one of kind. It has four life stages: the egg, the larva or caterpillar, the pupa, and lastly the adult butterfly.

Butterfly Egg

Unfortunately, we were not able to see from the beginning, what a butterfly egg looks like. But according to my research, the egg stage usually lasts for about 3-7 days depending on what kind of species the butterfly is.

Larva or Caterpillar

My 9-year-old son, Kim Deaver told me that the egg shell is the first meal for most caterpillars. I got surprised and to prove his words, he told me to do some research and had proven that it was true. The caterpillar will eat and eat, increasing its body mass multiple times.

I was able to take some pictures of the larva at that time (March 26, 2022) but forgot to check its everyday progress because I got busy with the orders.

_{Date: 3-26-22}

As you can see, its eyes are very visible, it has a brown spot on its head near the eyes, and to be honest, I was afraid of what it looked like.

_{Date: 3-26-22}

After a few months, my husband called me again and pointed out the bigger size of a larva. It was still on the same plant where we found first a larva.

_{Date: 6-8-22}

We didn't know if it is still the same larva that we saw last March 26. It's almost 3 months but yet it was still a larva, only bigger. The brown spot on the head part was nowhere to find and its eyes seem bigger also this time.

Caterpillars are believed to molt and change their appearance several times as they outgrow their exoskeleton. So there's a tendency that it is still the same larva that we saw last March. The caterpillar stage was believed to last about 2-5 weeks but still depends on the species and its growing conditions.

_{Date: 6-9-22}

The next day, when I got the chance to check on it, we saw these small black things on the top of one of the leaves of that same plant. My husband told me that it was the caterpillar's feces and was amazed at what it looked like.

_{Date: 6-9-22}

A day after that, I was more surprised because it changed from green to brown color. It looks like it's about to develop into a pupa. As you have noticed, there's a silk web on its top. I thought that it would hang itself like I always knew.

_{Date: 6-10-22}

_{Date: 6-10-22}

This is what the plant looks like when it's about to develop into a pupa. Almost all the leaves were eaten.

_{Date: 6-12-22}

On the following day, I noticed that its size had shrunk. Don't know if it's normal.

_{Date: 6-12-22}

After that day, we went to my parents' house to stay for a few days. Unable to check what had happened to the caterpillar that was about to develop into a pupa.

Can you guess what happened next?

My husband who went home first after 2 days of stay, told me that the caterpillar continues to shrink and it looks like it was dead.

We were unable to see it develop into a pupa, and were expecting first to finally be able to witness the cycle of a butterfly. But sadly, before it could bloom into a beautiful winged creature, the cycle has ended too soon.

I was hoping to see a full cycle of the butterfly and be able to share here its stages with complete pictures.

Anyway, thank you for reading my post if you reached this far. God bless everyone and keep safe.

Love lots,
@jonalyn2020

All photos are mine.