Alien Life Form?

Today’s post features a couple of images I captured over the weekend. As the great Monarch butterfly migration towards Mexico progresses, I have a total of five Monarch “cats” that have been busy transforming into chrysalises (or, is that chrysali?). I managed to capture a lot of images of this metamorphosis, and I’m working on trying to put together a time-lapse video of the interesting and miraculous process. Since it may take a little while to get this video completed, I am featuring a couple of still images of the last “cat” as it begins the process of magically turning into a beautiful Monarch. I can imagine someone not familiar with the Monarch or the transformation process, recognizing this as an alien life form!  Enjoy!

Here is the upside-down Monarch “cat”, hanging from it’s tail end, and forming the characteristic “J” positioning, just prior to it’s last molt and transformation into a chrysalis:

Monarch caterpillar

At the conclusion of the transformation, the newly-formed chrysalis is shown, reminding me of one of the alien’s “human pods” in the classic, sci-fi movie, “The Body Snatchers”:

Monarch chrysalis

Stay tuned for more photos, and hopefully a video!

 

Photographic Equipment Used:

  • Canon 5D Mark 3 body
  • Canon 180mm, f/3.5 macro lens
  • Bogen 3221 tripod, with ballhead
  • ISO 6400 (top photo) and ISO 10000 (bottom photo)
  • Aperture f/16 (top photo) and f/32 (bottom photo)
  • Shutter Speed 1/20 sec. (top photo) and 1/10 sec. (bottom photo)

 

 

Posted in Butterfly Photography, Insect Photography, Macro Photography, Nature Photography
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