When you see them, take them inside, because they can walk away at any moment. But it sounds like everything you are doing is ok. Now, it will only take like 7-10 days or so, so get ready. Did the caterpillar make chrysalis on the leaf or the stem? What I do, is wait till they look like they are done or already walking away from the weed, and put sticks in a small empty aquarium and let the caterpillar crawl over the sticks till it finds a good spot to make chrysalis

Thank you for your response, flutter!!! I did know that the chrysalis would turn blackish as the chrysalid became thinner, but interesting enough, I never saw orange or white in there, so I started to worry if I was raising a wasp, instead! Well, it all happened very quickly, this morning before I left for work I only saw 2 orange dots, otherwise just black. 3 hours later my boyfriend called to tell me that he could see the black, orange stripes and the white dots. An hour after that the butterfly had already emerged! However, there were difficulties. It had fallen right down to the bottom of the castle. Fortunately I have a nice soft terry washcloth covering the base. It flailed around a bit. My boyfriend put down one of the bamboo sticks we had standing along the inside of the castle, to act as a ramp for it to climb on then up the sides of the mesh. But the butterfly kept slipping off, back onto the washcloth. So my boyfriend went outside and picked one of our big zinnia flowers, stalk, leaves and all. The butterfly did climb on that, better traction I guess, and is hanging close to the end. My boyfriend clamped the stalk to the mesh to keep it in place. The butterfly is still hanging there, though it did fall once again, but climbed back on. the proboscis is now fused into one from two, and is quite still. The wings look fully formed. But one wing is a little bent, about 30 degree angle, outward. I sure hope it will be okay! I'll keep you posted, with some photos next time! Again, thank you for the prompt response! flowergirl

Hi there, Sorry about your chrysalis. It could have been injured by the fall, or it could be OE (a parasite that can turn the chrysalis black) or some other parasite. Can you see any of the wing colors through the chrysalis? They are often also visible just before emerging. They detach sometimes, and you can leave them on the bottom of the cage. I set a clean paper towel down for it lie on. The butterfly will emerge and climb up the cage (be sure there is something for it to climb up if your rearing cage is glass, like an aquarium. I have done this many times, and the butterflies emerge perfectly. Easier and less risky than trying to rehang it. I also make sure that the gold spots are up since those seem to be the spiracles (little holes for breathing) based on a scientist's MRI imaging of a Monarch chrysalis. Good luck with your other butterflies! And thank you for rearing them. Does your library have a butterfly garden?

My ten that I have released for this season all took between 10 and 12 days from pupation to eclosion. The trend was to noticeably darken after 8 pm, have obviously visible wings in the morning around 7 am, and emerge between 9 and 10:30. This morning I had an early-bird who was out when we came down at 7:30 for breakfast. I don't know if it is relevant but is a substantially warmer morning than we have had recently. I hope you and your friend have a lovely time. Meredith