The Butterfly Effect
June 2, 2019 6:46 PM Subscribe
From chrysalis to flight: The blogger behind TYWKIWDBI* lovingly documents the emergence of a female Black Swallowtail. (Single-link nice thing; * "Things You Wouldn't Know If We Didn't Blog Intermittently.")
Huh. I just learned a new word: eclose, (of an insect), to emerge from a pupa or egg.
posted by Joe in Australia at 7:12 PM on June 2, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by Joe in Australia at 7:12 PM on June 2, 2019 [3 favorites]
Monarchs have been visiting my pitiful excuse of a milkweed plant. I don't think I'll get caterpillars this year but I'm hoping.
posted by shoesietart at 7:21 PM on June 2, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by shoesietart at 7:21 PM on June 2, 2019 [2 favorites]
A couple of years ago, we found a big fat green caterpillar and took it home. Put it in a big jar, with a stick. Fatty almost immediately began making a cocoon, so I put the jar out in the shed. In the spring, he emerged as a Black Swallowtail. My daughter took him to school to show off, then we let him go. The information I had then said they only live a week or two as adults, but now I'm seeing a claim that they can live for a year. Anyone know the truth?
posted by Kirth Gerson at 2:28 AM on June 3, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Kirth Gerson at 2:28 AM on June 3, 2019 [1 favorite]
Also, I saw a Tiger Swallowtail a couple of weeks ago. First one in years.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 2:29 AM on June 3, 2019
posted by Kirth Gerson at 2:29 AM on June 3, 2019
I’m just chiming in to say how glad I am to see someone drawing attention to TYWKIWDBI. The site is bookmarked in my Daily Favorites tab and is my first stop every morning. This is one of the last vestiges of the GOOD OLD DAYStm of the internet, and I like it more and more not only for it’s rarity, but for merely being what it is. I’m always afraid that they will close up shop whenever they express fatigue or exasperation over their own comment section. All hail the generalists. Plus, I’m almost certain they are a librarian, if not librarian-adjacent.
posted by Conrad-Casserole at 1:34 PM on June 3, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Conrad-Casserole at 1:34 PM on June 3, 2019 [1 favorite]
One of my favorite memories of raising my daughter is when she and I brought a Black Swallowtail caterpillar inside and watched it hatch. I've loved dill plants ever since because of the beautiful creatures that eat them.
posted by Flight Hardware, do not touch at 6:13 PM on June 3, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Flight Hardware, do not touch at 6:13 PM on June 3, 2019 [1 favorite]
This. Is. Lovely.
Sigh (smiles for the first time in days). Thank you.
posted by WalkerWestridge at 8:30 PM on June 3, 2019 [2 favorites]
Sigh (smiles for the first time in days). Thank you.
posted by WalkerWestridge at 8:30 PM on June 3, 2019 [2 favorites]
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posted by sleeping bear at 6:57 PM on June 2, 2019 [2 favorites]