Posted by proteus on February 19, 2003 at 23:18:35:
In Reply to: Re: look what I found at work.... posted by freaky-lil-raver on February 19, 2003 at 18:13:22:
It's very common for some species' chrysalis to turn brown or be brown. Like in the cases of Danous plexippus (monarch), Junonia coenia (buckeye) and Nymphalis antiopa (mourning cloak), to name a few. So the brown chrysalis is a common color amoung butterflies; and to most people the browned look-of-it immediately makes people assume that it's dead.
From what I've read about how many days in pupation that elapses is 10-14 (like leaf rollers, cabbage loopers, beet armyworms)(families : Noctuidae, Pyralidae, and Tortricidae).
In summation, I listed moths (as opposed to butterflies) becuase I could'nt find anything on how many days a butterfly stays in it's pupa.
:kool, thanks.
:another question though, is it normal for the cacoon to turn brown. it was a deep green and had a couple yellow spots on it, now it is turning brown. I am gonna set it up in a plastic container right now, it has been hanging on my grapevine right here on my desk since the first post. so I dunno if it is any good, if not I think me and my son will go to the park one of thease days and see if we can collect some fresh ones.
:thank you
:Mary
