Monarch chrysalis turned brown

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Monarch chrysalis turned brown

Postby Merrr » Fri Aug 27, 2010 12:51 pm

I'm new to the forum, so while tried to search for this topic in here already I didn't see it. Sorry if this has been answered somewhere else.

I just found one monarch butterfly caterpillar nearly a week ago, and I decided, for the first time in many years, to keep it until it changed to a butterfly. I put it in a container with holes and took it home with me. Within a day it had turned into a chrysalis. Since then, I've been waiting for it to come out. I left it on my window sill, and when I woke up today it had turned from perfect green to a sort of brown and black. I don't think it was due to sun, because my window doesn't face the sun and it was cloudy today anyways. Is my butterfly going to be ok?

Here are a couple pictures I took. Sorry for the quality (not the greatest camera ever), but you can see the colour changes that have taken place.
http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/7116/adgbsa.png
http://img819.imageshack.us/img819/5876/fgkjdftu.png
http://img704.imageshack.us/img704/3329/41699538.png

Anything you could tell me would be very much appreciated.
Merrr
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Re: Monarch chrysalis turned brown

Postby Mona Miller » Fri Aug 27, 2010 2:17 pm

Even if your window is not in the sun, glass conducts heat. I can't tell from your pictures exactly what's going on. Take the butterfly out of the window and mist it with water. I'd leave it on a table for a few days and mist it a couple times a day. If it doesn't come out, it has either been cooked or has some type of disease. Sorry.

Next time, put them in indirect light to raise them. We've all had this problem at one time or another and learned from our mistakes. That is why we can give a bit of advise.
Mona Miller
Herndon, VA (USA)
Take care of the small things....
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Mona Miller
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