For nine days I have fed and cleaned up after this growing young caterpillar! Last night I watched as he spun a silky thread and hung upside down in the classic 'J position!' I figured that I'd wake up to find a chrysalis, but I've learned that 'J position' - chrysalis takes about 18-20 hours.
When the caterpillar first began to wiggle, I noticed that the tip of the caterpillars bum began to seem translucent, and soon the entire caterpillar body began to take on a green tinge. The body began shaking, similarly to panting, and then the caterpillar began to crunch its body like it was in labor - and since its giving birth to a new form of itself, it seems like an accurate description! Intermittently, the caterpillar's body would plumpen and contract in segments, looking like a alien might burst from inside. Lastly, before the caterpillar's skin finally spilt, it looked like the caterpillar was wearing a puffer jacket!
It took only a single minute for the caterpillar skin to split open- starting from the head. After the skin was completely scrunched up at the tip of the tail, the caterpillar then began to fling itself wildly inside the now green pupa. A few minutes of 'dancing' inside the soft chrysalis, the caterpillar dripped its last caterpillar skin to the ground.
After several hours, the chrysalis continued to wiggle and harden, leaving beautiful markings on the the outside. Eventually, the chrysalis fell still, and now we wait for 10-14 days before we can see all of the change that is taking place on the inside!
