What a difference

a few minutes make.
2 weeks ago the pupa was a caterpillar.
When I left for walkies there was no sign of activity but when I got back the beautiful Peacock imago (butterfly) had eclosed.
It takes about 5 minutes from the start of the process to fully inflated wings.
There is a liquid called haemolymph in the abdomen which is pumped into the wings to inflate them, any excess is eliminated as meconium.
It then takes several hours for the wings to harden enough to enable flight.
One Peacock has flown, a second wants to leave but its wings are still a bit floppy.
150723

[Fisher Family]

A beautiful process, well described, and well illustrated - fav!

Ian

[Dorothy]

So interesting, thank you.