Monarch cocoon?

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salden
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Monarch cocoon?

Post by salden »

Image

Again, from my garden, near the butterfly bushes.
Sue Alden

beetleman
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Post by beetleman »

very nice find Sue...better keep an eye on it because we will want more shots of this :wink:
Take Nothing but Pictures--Leave Nothing but Footprints.
Doug Breda

rjlittlefield
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Post by rjlittlefield »

Yep, it sure looks like a monarch pupa, often called a chrysalis, from the Greek χρυσός (chrysós) for gold. The shells of many butterfly pupae carry shiny metallic spots. I recall reading several decades ago that in Monarchs, these shiny spots are associated with centers of development for the butterfly. A quick Google search based on that snippet of info turned up this handy reference about the Monarch butterfly:
http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/monarc ... wer06.html. The gold spots are addressed most of the way down -- search for "Fred Urquhart".

--Rik

MacroLuv
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Post by MacroLuv »

Nice find Sue. :D Besides, reading Rik's comments is always enjoyable.
The meaning of beauty is in sharing with others.

P.S.
Noticing of my "a" and "the" and other grammar
errors are welcome. :D

salden
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Post by salden »

I wanted to watch it and take more images, as this is the first one for me, but I leave Monday for GA for two weeks. I will see what "develops" :lol: up to that time.
Sue Alden

Ken Ramos
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Post by Ken Ramos »

Nice photograph Sue, highlights look a little harsh but I would not know anything about resolving that issue, you're the one going to school for this stuff (nyah :P ! :lol: ) Beautiful image Sue. :D

salden
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Post by salden »

Yea, a few spots, but not sure if I can fix that. This is hanging under a leaf in the bushes, so flash was a must and that is what you see on the coon. The coon has a smooth, shiny type texture to it, so it just might be the way it has to be. When I get back from work today, I will attempt more images. I am off Friday, so maybe I can get a few images without flash if I have enough sunlight falling on the coon naturally.

And classes..yea they startup again today. One of them is "Lightening", so I think that will be interesting. I hope it is more than just "studio" and covers natural light too. In any case, I will share what I learn.
Sue Alden

paul
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Post by paul »

Nice one, Sue, I love monarchs in all stages!

Maybe try a polarising filter, I think I had reasonable improvements when I used one on my very reflective and very black ants recently, reducing quite a bit of glare. (Also means less light for focussing :( , but this thingy is not running away in a hurry.)

I must apologise for my recent absence from the forum; I got a bit busy, and am also preparing for a trip to Europe. Hope to be more visible from mid-November.
paul h

Ken Ramos
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Post by Ken Ramos »

To kill harsh highlights, I have had reasonable sucess with a flash diffuser. Don't know how it would work on this but its worth a try I suppose. :-k

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