Queen of Spain Fritillary (Issoria lathonia)
For years I was searching for eggs and/or caterpillars of the Queen of Spain Fritillary. On June 2nd 2020 I was walking with my dog when I saw an orange butterfly resting in the grass. When I came closer I noticed that it was an egg-laying Queen of Spain Fritillary and some later I found 4 eggs on Field Pansy (viola arvensis). A few days later the eggs were gone....eaten by ants. More than a month later I found an egg in the planter of my holiday accommodation and as the planter inhabited by big ants too, I decided to took the violet with egg home. After a few days a tiny little caterpillar was born which loves fresh field pansy. After 21 days the caterpillar changed into a chrysalis and at the time the chrysalis was ready to emerge we had a heat wave with temperatures around 35 degrees daily.
Photographing 'the moment' was a challenge and in comparison with other metamorphosises this one was different as the chrysalis was shaking for almost half an hour and suddenly the chrysalis ripped ('exploded') open and within seconds the butterfly was emerged. The wings were expanded very quickly to their full size and as soon they were dryed he flew away...I had no chance to photograph him with open wings.
For photos of the other stages please link to my 'regular' page about the Queen of Spain Fritillary
Photographing 'the moment' was a challenge and in comparison with other metamorphosises this one was different as the chrysalis was shaking for almost half an hour and suddenly the chrysalis ripped ('exploded') open and within seconds the butterfly was emerged. The wings were expanded very quickly to their full size and as soon they were dryed he flew away...I had no chance to photograph him with open wings.
For photos of the other stages please link to my 'regular' page about the Queen of Spain Fritillary
Sequence 1: Tranformation from chrysalis into butterfly (metamorphosis)