| Catch the moment... before it flies away |
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| Libythea celtis is a species which occurs in France on the mediterranean coast. On this page are presented some aspects regarding its life-cycle... |
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1] a caterpillar of Libythea celtis spotted in Var (France) on Celtis australis, on the 07th of June, 2012. | |||
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| 2] picture of a newly-formed chrysalis |
3] View of the chrysalis from picture 2], the day before the emergence process. The wings can be seen through the tegument (14/06/2012 - time of shot 07:25 P.M. ) |
4] other view of the chrysalis shown in 3] (14/06/2012 - time of shot 07:25 P.M. ) | ||
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| 5] View of the chrysalis shown in 3], the day when the emergence process occured. It became all dark during the night (15/06/2012 - time of shot 07:05 A.M. ) | 6] other view of the chrysalis shown in 5] (15/06/2012 - time of shot 07:05 A.M. ) |
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7] a caterpillar of Libythea celtis spotted in natura while starting the pupation process. At the end of the same day, the larva had become a chrysalis (Var - France - 07/06/2012).
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8] view of the chrysalis which originated from the caterpillar from picture 7], right before the emergence process starts (17/06/2012 - time of shot 09:27 A.M. ). Some external changes indicate that the emergence of the butterfly is about to occur... The nymphal stage will have lasted in this case 9 days only |
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9] animation showing the moment when the butterfly emerged from the chrysalis. The emergence lasted less than a minute and started at 09:36 A.M. on the 17th of June... what a luck to be able to witness this fleeting moment ! | |
| The set of pictures below shows the quick changes undergone by the butterfly while unfolding its wings... | ||||
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| time of shot 09:37 A.M. | time of shot 09:37 A.M. | time of shot 09:37 A.M. | ||
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| time of shot 09:38 A.M. | time of shot 09:38 A.M. | time of shot 09:38 A.M. | ||
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| time of shot 09:38 A.M. | time of shot 09:38 A.M. | time of shot 09:39 A.M. | ||
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| time of shot 09:40 A.M. | time of shot 09:44 A.M. | time of shot 09:52 A.M. | ||
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time of shot 09:54 A.M. |
time of shot 09:54 A.M. - here, the insect is just swinging its antennae to its front part, which is the normal position |
time of shot 09:55 A.M. - the antennae are now put in place |
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time of shot 10:40 A.M. - the butterfly spontaneously took off and flew away a few minutes later... |
Close-up of the head, showing the amazing long palpi. |
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| From time to time after the emergence, the butterfly was excreting some pinkish drops of liquid from the anus. | ||||
