Butterflies and Chrysalis, a Colorful Collection

Chrysalis is a curious word to me. I previously thought that the name came about because of how beautiful and glass-like some chrysalis can be. Well, it turns out I wasn't so far of. The word Chrysalis comes from the Greek word meaning gold, and it was given this name because some butterfly species have gold-like pupa coloration (pupa is another less glamorous name for chrysalis). I hope that you enjoy this butterfly and chrysalis collection, I must warn you that not all chrysalises are beautiful, some are extremely unappealing but there's a reason behind that madness.

Most of these photos were taken at the Butterfly Wonderland in Scottsdale, Arizona, and some others I had to chase down out in the wild. I also have to warn you that this is a very long post. Feel free to skip the babbling and go straight to the photos ;)

Tihorea Tarricina "Spotted Tiger Glasswing"

(Neotropical)
The Spotted Tiger Glasswing's chrysalis is absolutely beautiful, and it shows that gold-like color that the word chrysalis was named after.

This set of chrysalises start with the Mechanitis Polymnia butterfly on the left, more commonly known as the "Costa Rica Tiger". The bronze colored chrysalis belongs to this beauty of a butterfly.

Mechanitis Polymnia “Costa Rica Tiger”

Morpho Peleides “Common Morpho”

The Common Morpho is one of my favorites, it's so bright that I can’t help but feel happy when I see it (well, the back side of it, the underside looks like a dried up leaf). This butterfly is extremely shy and active, but I was lucky enough to be able to get this shot to share with you.

Myscelia Cyaniris "Whitened Bluewing" (Neotropical)

This butterfly looks so delicate, yet it's chrysalis looks like a nasty bug. I believe that's the idea they had in mind, to make their chrysalis as nasty looking as possible so that nothing messes with them.

Papilio Anchisiades "Rubi Spotted Swallowtail" (Neotropical)

Red and black, my favorite colors in one pretty butterfly.

We will skip the Thoas Swallowtail (it is mentioned a little later on this post) and go straight to the Parides Arcas "Arched-Wing Cattleheart".

Parides Arcas “Arched-Wing Cattleheart”

(Neotropical) Very similar to the Rubi Spotted Swallowtail.

Troides Rhadamantus “Common Birdwing”

I must admit that the Common Birdwing chrysalis is not the most attractive, but the purpose of it is to look like a leaf, mostly like a dried up leaf and this way it makes itself as unappealing as possible and camouflaged while it is in one of it's most vulnerable stages.

(Asia)
The Common Birdwing is a stunningly beautiful butterfly, unlike it's chrysalis which is camouflaged to look like a dried up leaf.

These are the chrysalises for the next set of butterflies, although we will skip the Asian Common Birdwing since we have already mentioned it above.

We start with the Tihorea Harmonia "Common Tiger" (Second from the left)

(Neotropical)
Beautiful little butterfly with a dark metallic looking chrysalis. Metal coloration seems unnatural to insects and it does not resemble yummy things in nature, therefore, this butterfly uses this coloration to make itself unappetizing to possible predators (I guess they haven't heard of the thousand dollar golden donuts in NYC) lol.

Prepona Omphale "Blue King Shoemaker" (Neotropical)

Notice the difference in wing coloration. The Blue King Shoemaker has a camouflaged underside with a bright blue on the other side of it's wings. The chrysalis is meant to look like green leafs as well to camouflage with its surroundings.

Parthenos Sylvia Lilacinus "Blue Clipper" (Asia)

Beautiful patterned butterfly, with a minimalist chrysalis to avoid becoming a snack while in this vulnerable form.

Papilio Thoas "Thoas Swallowtail" (Neotropical)

This is a newborn Swallowtail, it is yet to straighten its wings. Butterflies hang upside down to allow their wings to straighten as well as the rest of their bodies. I don't know what I expected them to come out looking like, after all, they are all crammed up in their chrysalises. It makes sense that they come out wrinkled as they do, but they look like they just came out of a heavy duty washer cycle x)

The Thoas Swallowtail will be ready to fly just like this one is, just as soon as it manages to straighten it's wings.

Papilio Lowi "Great Yellow Mormon" (Asia)

Isn't this butterfly majestic?!

We will skip any butterflies already mentioned; therefore, this set will start with this beautiful butterfly, the Papilio Palinurus most commonly known as the "Banded Peacock". Can you tell why it was named this way?
Papilio Palinurus “Banded Peacock”

(Asia)

Idea Leuconoe "Paper Kite"

This butterfly's chrysalis is beautifully golden with black specks, as beautiful as the butterfly itself. However, unlike the beautiful and delicate butterfly, the chrysalis looks beautiful, but not so delicate as it looks like a hard metal when the butterfly looks thin and delicate as paper.

(Asia)

I took too many photos once again; therefore, I am going to make another post to be able to show you all of the butterflies I was able to photograph. They are so pretty, I do not want to miss a single one! As always, thank you for stopping by! I sure hope you enjoy this post as much as I enjoyed making it :)