I fretted a lot overnight. I kept checking the monarch disease pages, dismissed OE and pondered “black death” after one older site pic I found that had a pure black chrysalis. Nope…nope…behold!
What a difference!
Between my partner trying to hold the screen steady and me cursing myself for not grabbing a tripod earlier, I am so happy I managed this shot before he left for work.
I did put a towel underneath in the keeper just in case one of them knocks the other off when they emerge since they are so close.
Also: I have spotted not one but TWO recently hatched egg larvae. I did spot two still unhatched, couldn’t easily find the third of either. (The latest crop brought in had four eggs on the milkweed stem top.)
Note: When I first made this post, I accidentally wrote OE as OEM. OE (Ophryocystis elektroscirrha) is more common in the southern US and Mexico. You can read more about it here.
I also called out “black death”, or NPV, without linking to or explaining it. Further info on NPV: Nuclear Polyhedrosis Virus.
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