another comma

,

comma butterfly

Comma butterfly, still roaming around ...
because of the warm weather.

he has a white comma-sign on the wings, which explains his name.

spider-spinning

spider spinning

going liquid

I just dropped into a tv program, about caterpillars transforming into cocoon:
(chrysalids, as they named it)
they said the caterpillar goes through a chemical reaction... melting, going liquid.
then it changes into the shapes of the butterfly.

that's very interesting.
so that means the butterfly is already there and the caterpillar is all gone...
no butterpillar or caterfly then.

miles of spinning

Miles and miles of spinning.
it feels as if I am cocooning

Leap of faith

There is one thing is is still glued to my minds eye.

That is the total yieldedness of the caterpillar when he begins his transformation.

After he has made his safetybelt,
He lets go of his grip to the branch.
only with his rear-end , he stayed attached to the branch.
but he let go loose of his feet completely.
No grip, no control, no thing to holding on.
Only letting go in complete yielding and surrender.
Before the transformation took place.

In fact it is a great leap of faith!
Not knowing what would gone happen.
He might know somewhere, he 'g going to be a beautiful butterfly someday,
But before that's going to happen, he has to go into the opposite direction.
going into a stiff cocoon, no moving, no flying, only sitting in a stiff cave kind of prison.

This process of transformation is so opposite to our standards of changing things.
where you have to do this or that, to make things happen, make sure such and so..

No striving whatsoever,
letting go, yielding, total surrender into unknown territory,
as a leap of faith to becoming a Queen butterfly!

spinning safetybelt

Is it the inspiration of looking so much to the caterpillars?
I don't know,
anyhow....

I am making /spinning my own kind of safetybelt/cocoon.
On the sewingmachine, sewing on kind of fleece-foundation (dillutable in water),
I am making my own kind of fabric.
in blues and greens..and maybe more colors.
Later I dillute the foundation of fleece..so what remains is the lacelike woven fabric.

fun to do, only takes some 'lots of patience'.

Calvia 14-guttata

I found a lovely ladybird,
14 white creamy spots... on his orange-colored shield,
instead of the common black ones.

Listening to the name cream-spotted-ladybird. (roomvleklieveheersbeestje)
His official name: Calvia 14-guttata

Large white

This week I found another caterpillar, on the windowframe.

Almost destroyed it, because I had not seen that the caterpillar
already had woven a safetybelt, around his body,

that meant that it was on its way to cocoon too!
And so it was...a day later it had transformed into a beautiful cocoon,
which changed colors the next day, and got beautiful spots everywhere.

the caterpillar is from the 'large white',(Groot Koolwitje) butterfly....
I guess... that this one is too a wintercocoon.
so next year?

caterfly or butterpillar

Another very interesting thing is that,
in the new transformed cocoon,
the shape of the butterfly is clearly to be seen,
or should I say caterfly or butterpillar.?
This fades after a few hours when the cocoon gets older and hardens.

The shapes and forms and features, of the eyes, wings, and legs are visible.
the cocoon can still move and is certainly alive.
Isn't that something!

Its to me a miracle to see how this is all created.
Impossible to understand with your mind,

lets you wonder and awe-ing!

(click image for enlargement)

going into cocoon

It is an amazing view, to watch this caterpillar go into cocoon.
the secret is now unfolded..where the legs go, the head and the stripes & spots.

After making the silk safetybelt, the caterpillar sits for 2 days,
quietly hanging completely yielded in the belt.
his legs are no more attached to the branch. trusting and letting go of all!

Then it happens, the skin starts crumbling a bit..and after a kind of wrestle..you see the skin burst open.
beginning with the belly than up to the head.. stripping skin off downwards.
then some shaking with his rear-end to shake off the old skin.
he can move his body very well...yet so vulnarable.
Then he sits waiting till the skin hardens more.
and colors change after that.

All the caterpillars are now in their cocoons..
remarkable thing is that there are 3 bright green ones and the other cocoons are all brown!

computerproblem

My hard disc on my computer is completely full...
Have to find out what to do...
sorry, would love to show the updates of the transformation of the caterpillar to cocoon.
yet I cannot do a thing with my photos now.

changing colors

The caterpillar-package still is changing colors.

My brain cannot contain, understand,
how this caterpillar can fold himself so small, so that it fits into this thing
and come out alive after X-time as a beauty-queen-butterfly.

Its a kind of mystery, you easy view as normal, because we are so used to it.
I still wonder where are the stripes and the orange dots gone..(the part I missed)
not to mention about the head and the little legs.

wrapped caterpillar

I made some more photos of the changes of the packages...
each with about an hour difference.

Is it a package of a wrapped caterpillar, or of a wrapped butterfly?

popped

I'm in a kind of shock...
The most important part..which I did not know how it would happen..I missed!
the last photo I took was 15.00 o'clock.
at 16.20 I took this one...!
See the complete difference!

I am amazed stunned, shocked and this is beyond what I expected...suddenly the cocoon was popped!
Only one-and-a-half hour later, while I was putting the photos on the computer..and making the last post.
Anyhow maybe the 2 cocooning caterpillar will give me a 2 chance...for seeing this transformation.
What I did see was a last kind of twitch..that bended the cocoon even more backwards

cocoon?

Somehow I saw the caterpillar make little movements...
very tiny, small, like breezing a little.
so he's not dead.
What I noticed today is, that the skin is changing ,
like getting more transparent and more aging.
This photo is taken from the other side (CLICK IMAGE)

Meanwhile caterpillar number 2 has, after going the same restless miles-tour round the tent, trying to find the best spot, & finally he found one.
He too spun himself a safetybelt, and is going into cocoon too!

safetybelt

This morning, I was very curious what happened next to the caterpillar, who was on its way to cocoon.

He hanged like in a kind of safetybelt, which he had made yesterday.
only it was now tight and straight, around his body.
and he had loosed his legs from the branch.
Hanging there like dead, only I wonder if they realy die in this transformation process?
does anyone know?
He had let go of his life, thats for certain.

Its a miracle to me which I don't understand,
how this little creatures know exactly what they are doing.

save the Queen spinning2

Now a few hours later, the caterpillar sits waiting , waiting, waiting... very still

not much looking like cocoon.

yet he has a silk belt around his body now.

spinning in

An amazing thing happened,
after I had noticed that the caterpillar made preparations for going into his cocoon.

He started spinning himself in, with very thin silky threads, which came from under his mouth.
He was weaving the silk around his body, as a kind of a belt.
and attched himself to the branch.
you can clearly see the white thin silk thread around his body.
after that he pauzed..and is sitting now undisturbed...waiting for?

save the Queen 'spinning'

This morning one of the caterpillars started a kind of marathon, all going in circles, round the tent, where they are in.
It looked as if he was going for miles...and sometimes he fell and had to climb up again.
he was not looking for food...as I found out, when I put him back on the plant, he started going restless ahead..without even giving a glance at eating.
This caught my attention, so I waited and watched what would happen.

For miles, and miles, waiting and watching, he at least stopped on a branch which I had put inside,
I had read, that when they go into cocoons they are attaching themselves on a branch. hanging down.
Now the caterpillar was sitting quiet for quite a while, and then started to spin..little threads around the branch...the treads are very difficult to see, yet they shine a little in the sun.

It is not even the biggest caterpillar, but he decided it is his day today...!

fat&green

The caterpillars are going more green and going more fat now.

I think it wont be long...
to see them transforming into cocoons.
I do hope to see that happen!

changing coat

This morning I found one of the caterpillars had just removed his old coat.

and to my amazement, his head was still white, which came into color after about an hour.
his old head was just in front of him (didn't know he changes his face too!)
and his coat was underneath..
after a while he made a u-turn and started eating his old coat.

But then stopped eating, right in front of his old head...which he left!
Its such a wierd sight..his old head sitting there on top!