Euphydryas chalcedona

[Ranitomeya]

I collected female Variable Checkerspot Butterflies last year in April and they laid eggs that hatched out and fed on some Penstemon from my garden until they reached the third instar. At that point, they stopped feeding and began their obligatory larval diapause during the summer. They came out of diapause late January this year and were fed Plantago lanceolata. They molted into fourth instars soon after they began feeding again, and then molted into their fifth and then sixth instars before finally beginning to pupate this week. Here are their pretty little chrysalides.

 

[Brunneria]

Love the metallic coloration on the chrysalises. One of the reasons why I love many Nymphalidae chrysalis

 

[Ranitomeya]

These guys actually are not metallic like most of the Nymphalidae chrysalides I've seen. They're not reflective at all, really. The one near the top is still a bit soft and hasn't had developed the extremely thin waxy layer that would take away the shine of the exoskeleton. I had to remove them from the container of caterpillars after losing a couple to hungry mandibles.

 

[Ranitomeya]

The Variable Checkerspot Butterflies have begun to emerge from their chrysalides.