Captured here is a time-lapse movie of the lifespan of a Monarch butterfly, condensing about two weeks of activity into a short video clip. I kept the caterpillar in a jar supplied with milkweed leaves and ventilation through holes punched in the lid. After days of munching on the leaves, it's interesting to observe the caterpillar 's circling behavior the day before transforming into a chrysalis, although the actual formation of the chryslis occurred at night and is not shown in the video.
When releasing the butterfly into a nearby field, you can see the wings are still damp as it flicks its wings and twitches before resting on leaf to finish drying.
From Monarch Butterfly - USA: The total time frame for one butterfly's life cycle (one generation) is about 6-8 weeks . . . egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, butterfly. It grows inside the egg for about 4 days. It then munches milkweed and grows as a monarch caterpillar (larvae) for about 2 more weeks. The caterpillar's life inside the chrysalis (pupa) lasts about 10 days and its wonderful life as an adult butterfly lasts from 2 - 6 weeks.
Hi Steve Great video! Would it be possible to get a copy of this video from you? I'd like to be able to use it in a presentation for kids at camp this summer for one of their research activities. Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated. Paula
comment by Paula, posted at 7/12/06 12:19 PM
Nice video. Remember the R! cateRpillar is the correct spelling! caterpillar Peter
comment by Peter Orgain, posted at 9/16/06 9:15 AM
Hi there... would it be possible to get a copy of this video? I would love to use it for educational purposes regarding transformation. My opportunity to use this as an illustration expires at the end of this week (November 30th). Please let me know, thanks! I can be contacted at (916) 273-4456.
comment by Derald Reedy, posted at 11/27/07 2:07 PM
Hi Steve - great video...we are doing a training session on change and this would be a great addition to the presentation. Would you mind sending me the video?
comment by Cindy, posted at 2/27/08 4:39 PM
Cindy, I've posted a zipped up copy on the web for download. Its 98 MB, so it might take a while depending on your connection.
Hi, great video! I am currently doing the same thing with Painted Lady caterpillars. I'm curious, what frame rate did you use? Thanks!
comment by Katie Rodrigues Lima, posted at 3/24/08 3:44 PM
I don't recall the frame rate. I used Windows XP Movie Maker.
Here's a great inspiration for making high quality professional time lapse photography where the (teenage) author says he uses 24 frames per second becuase its the golden standard.
I'm 65 years old and never had the opportunity to see the Monarch miracle during my school years so my husband and I collected six caterpillers and fattened them up on milkweed in our grandkids' bug box and watched in awe as the metamorphasis unfolded. I missed the hatching by just minutes this morning when our last "baby" came into the world.Thank you for your video....we really enjoyed it.
comment by Linda Sabourin, posted at 9/18/08 8:53 PM
Clear video taken!
I was looking for such a video through Google & it led me to yours. Wanted to show to my students through a video clip, the whole transformation process which is more alive!
Thanks for your video.
If poss, I would love to have a copy.
comment by Yvonne, posted at 1/6/09 8:48 PM
Hello Steve, I was inquiring about the time frame that it takes from a caterpillar to the butterfly and the Monarchs are well known to me from the Mid-West state; however I have a ladies group that I am speaking on in April and it is about transformation, and I would love a copy of this video to share the transformation of the caterpillar to the butterfly if I could please. This is truly a wonderous video. Thank you and God Bless.
comment by Michelle, posted at 3/13/09 2:14 PM
Name: sarah Subject: butterfly suggestion Date: Thu, December 03, 2009 Time: 5:44:11PM Message:
Adobe Alumni & Community Professional. Expert in ColdFusion, Flex, LCDS, Photoshop, Lightroom. Linux RHCE. Follow Me!. For my photography check out Boston Portrait Photographer.
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Great video! Would it be possible to get a copy of this video from you? I'd like to be able to use it in a presentation for kids at camp this summer for one of their research activities.
Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated.
Paula