Adult Monarch Butterfly Emerges from its Chrysalis

After nine days of behind the scenes changes, the adult monarch butterfly is ready to meet the world!
Is it a boy or a girl? We'll show you how to tell the difference!
How did the chrysalis from in the first place? If you missed that video, you can watch it here: • Monarch Caterpillar Ch...
How did it all begin? You can see the caterpillar hatching from its egg here: • Monarch Butterfly Egg ...
The complete story of the life cycle of the monarch butterfly is available here: • Life Cycle of the Mona...

[@evanisovich]

Man...that first full wing outstretch is probably one of the best feelings ever 😁

[@DragoniteloverPokemonLover]

Metapod evolves into Butterfree but in real life

[@melissawarren7095]

I don't think enough people realize how beautiful nature is to our world. There's a purpose for everything.

[@idontknowanymore2707]

there’s a purpose for mosquitos and ants? 💀

[@DANIELLE_BREANNA_LACY]

@@idontknowanymore2707 There must be, but that doesn’t stop me from killing the ones around my home. LOL

[@angela3196]

I bought a swan plant for my daughter so she could experience the wonder of it.....but she was over it within a couple of days LOL. Then I witnessed a wasp literally sucking the life out a caterpillar. Awful!!! After seeing that I couldn't just leave them outside and vulnerable (they are so cute when they hatch) so I decided to bring the plant inside...keep them safe LOL Anyway, long story short I have 22 Chrysalis babies ready to hatch, I can't wait!!. Thanks for sharing :o) I am addicted!!

[@DANIELLE_BREANNA_LACY]

I love hearing all of the birds singing in the background of this video.😇😍🥰🐦

[@SuperJuneM]

2:15 who here just heard a cat?? Also, this is basically me trying to get out of bed in the morning lol

[@katielovell2444]

Nah you are not the only one, I heard a cat mmmmeeeeeooowwwww too! Lol.

[@santadiaz7334]

Me

[@santadiaz7334]

Lol lol lol lol

[@AnnieTheMighty]

@@katielovell2444 the Cat didn’t meow, it T r i l l e d

[@higpitnaman]

this is great infomation... i am currently writing a short children's story this morning for an online educational module. it is about KRISA, the happy butterfly. this video gave me a vivid imaghes of how they emerge.

[@barbsrose]

I enjoyed watching this video. I’ve been raising monarch butterflies for several years. It always amazes me to see this beautiful creature emerge from its chrysalis. I talk about the Monarch butterflies into the garden group, which I belong to in northeastern, Pennsylvania. I urge our members to plant native milkweed and n their gardens where it will not be disturbed but monitored. I found this year was not a good year for Monarchs.

[@tenderpawsm473]

Is it difficult for a butterfly to emerge from the chrysalis?

[@JeffersonLab]

Every butterfly has done it, but I can't say that it looks like fun.

[@sirMAXX77]

That butterfly just seconds from emerging and already was about to be some cats dinner.

[@riseandrun1]

Great videos! Any idea what the multiple of size of a caterpillar just out of the “egg” to the caterpillar just beginning to turn into a chrysalis? I don’t think 1000 times bigger is enough. Thanks

[@shermendlakk]

:0! Butterflies can meow? Illuminati confirmed! 🔼

[@janetd57]

Left two, male. Right two, female. I thought I heard a kitty in the background!

[@purplemninja3885]

I remember once when I was younger I had a little habitat and a kit to grow 5 caterpillars (I don't remember what species). The caterpillars came in a jar with breathing holes on the top and caterpillar food on the bottom. Four got up to the top of the jar and cocooned while the last one died somehow. I took the pad with the cocoons out of the jar and into the habitat. Like over a week later, only three of them had emerged, the last one had turned black and never emerged, so that one failed. But as if that wasn't enough, one the three sole survivors had misshapen wings. Later that day I repeatedly threw the butterflies into the air to release them, after a while both of the perfect ones managed to fly away, as for the poor one with misshapen wings, I placed it on a plant in a field and let it be free that way, I tested the little one but of course it couldn't fly because of its misshapen wings. Many years before that I was visiting my grandmother and grandfather with my family and they had some wooden wind chimes laying on the floor of their garden and I saw a cocoon stuck to one of the tubes. I gently peeled it off and we took it back home with us. A long while later (from what I can remember) my mother and I walked into the kitchen and found the cocoon transparent and empty. We looked at the window and saw a cabbage white butterfly on it, on the inside so it obviously came from the cocoon I found. My mother caught it and then released it out in the garden where it flew away to freedom.

[@mustanggt98cobra]

PurpleMNinja facts

[@mustanggt98cobra]

PurpleMNinja you just wrote a hole paragraph and that is intense

[@daniellearonoff373]

Painted lady butterfly. They still sell the habitat.

[@nicolhaidi]

From left to right, male, male, female, female. Also I just realized butterflies are giant mosquitos with fancy wings. Odd.

[@JeffersonLab]

nicolhaidi A gold star for your correct identifications! 🌟

[@nicolhaidi]

Jefferson Lab yay thank you :>

[@Chickennuggetjoes]

+Jefferson Lab isn't that a black star

[@JeffersonLab]

+The Piscis It's gold on my screen.

[@Chickennuggetjoes]

I see it now,on the KZbin app it's black

[@kearanbrown3228]

I saw this is my school and I’m seeing the beautiful butterfly emerge again ❤❤❤

[@kimuseni]

Thanks

[@Merryan1]

Great video! Thank you.

[@k3ntris]

That thing is huge!

[@idontknowanymore2707]

i’m taking care of 3 right now and one is already hanging upside down in a j shape making all sorts of webs it’s so cool i’m so excited to see it turn into a chrysalis ^^

[@craigquinata9594]

Great video! Just learned something from my son! We found 2x males and 2x females..

[@MyEarthEcoNut]

Thanks for another great video!

[@TMS5100]

kitty wants to investigate! 😸

[@dianapengitore8002]

Two boys on the left and two girls on the right. I started raising monarch butterflies late last year and had 13 of them. My goal for this year was 100. So far, I counted 163 of them with more to come. The entire process from egg to caterpillar to Chrysalis to butterfly is truly amazing and this video is very educational. 🐛🦋👍😊

[@JeffersonLab]

Good job!

[@barbsrose]

Awesome! I raise Monarch’s as well. ❤️

[@kathybrant571]

Just found this video after witnessing a monarch caterpillar form into a crystalys within hours. I'm fascinated by the gold thread looking line around it. Truly looks like 24k. It's been about a week and my husband and I just witnessed, what looked like, it taking a pee. Now has a small opening on the side so it won't be long. From Florida ❤🦋🌞😀👍👍

[@suewatanabe2878]

The gold is just beautiful!! One of the chrysalis I have just turned clear just 2 hours ago. I hope I catch it emerging !

[@matthew_harris]

Great videos, both before and after. May I ask what camera setup you are using. Also, love the background "noise"

[@JeffersonLab]

That was shot with a Canon 70D using a 100mm macro lens.

[@hectichive889]

2:40, do their bodies usually pulsate like that? GRoss

[@MyPaloma2023]

Very informative Monarch videos-and you made it fun, too! I currently have quite a few caterpillars munching away on volunteer Milkweed plants along my driveway-now I know what to expect! Thankyou! :^)

[@JeffersonLab]

The thing that fooled me at first with them is that they wander off when it's time for them to pupate. You'll see a bunch of big caterpillars on the plants one day and they'll all be gone the next. It makes sense from an evolutionary standpoint once you realize that it's probably not a great idea to sit idle for a week or so on a plant that's still food for your brothers and sisters. You're less likely to have your resting place eaten from out under you if you go somewhere else to pupate.

[@MyPaloma2023]

Lol! Looking with interest to this process, and the beauty ahead! ( this is in western PA.) :^)

[@allysanchez7275]

@@JeffersonLab the butterfly 🦋 is so beautiful! Can you actually touch one gently and how?

[@JeffersonLab]

@@allysanchez7275 When they are newly emerged it isn't difficult to have them walk onto your finger.

[@allysanchez7275]

@@JeffersonLab true.

[@womensassistancecollective]

Beautiful and informative! Great video thanks for sharing.

[@m809krazee]

Thank you for capturing this, i have a bunch of Monarchs in their Chrysalis and i try to capture them leaving it, only to see them doing the Stretching their wings

[@santadiaz7334]

Yup thesmudge in the wing almost always look orange

[@derinxspaghetti]

my favorite one is the butterfly

[@bazookajohnson8579]

pls make Polymer Balls in Liquid Nitrogen

[@donaldleblanc7307]

It scared me when the body just fell out

[@dylanruppert4547]

two males on the left and two females on the right

[@reubenguttenberg7405]

Patrick: 😭 WHY DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING TO ME!

[@sardex9000]

I love so much this butterfly life! His life is the trend of our life. You have describe perfectly the medium stage of this and you call the butterfly as "he" not as "it". It's great! I'm sorry for my english... I am a 🦋 What do you say about? Thank you! ❤

[@LeoQueen777]

@Jefferson Lab just wanted to know why the butterflies roam in cool soft mud more like clay during winters?

[@JeffersonLab]

I don't know. I can't say that I've ever seen that behavior. We don't get butterflies in the winter in my part of the country.

[@lepidlover0557]

Because mud provides them with salt and minerals. It's usually males that you see doing this behavior. They incorporate the minerals and salts into their bodies and pass it to the female when mating. This increases the vitality of the eggs

[@curtflirt2]

Pretty

[@bruceb3786]

UNBELIEVABLE ---ID--Thank you !!!

[@MrJeongja]

How did you find that

[@JeffersonLab]

You plant the plants the caterpillars eat for food.

[@sebastiantvang3469]

VERY COOOLLLL

[@wesharetestimonies8221]

I wonder if it’s the same life/consciousness after such a change. 😳

[@clcallag]

I believe they are! I’ll try to find the study, but there was an experiment where caterpillars were exposed to a neutral stimulus then a negative stimulus over and over under they began to expect the negative stimulus after being exposed to the neutral stimulus. Once the caterpillars had become butterflies, they were again exposed to the neutral stimulus, and they reacted as though they were expecting the negative stimulus to follow.

[@chaoflaka8132]

IT ATE WORMY!!!!

[@philipohmes9395]

How about a series on the Life Cycle of the Milkweed Plant? Monarch Butterflies are not the only insect that benefits from the Milkweed Plant during its life cycle. I have counted about 24 different species of insects that nourish themselves off of the Milkweed Plants growing in my garden. Some visit during the day times and some visit at night times. Then as the plant begins its seed cycle and the leaves and petals wither away another few insects come by to nourish themselves.

[@jnkj13]

jefferson lab. You should check out the video about the structure of the butterfly's scale on its wings. The channel that studied it was "Smarter Every Day". They used an electron microscope. It's pretty cool. Should check it out sometime.

[@akshaysanjayshinde2253]

Thats awesome thank you sir😊

[@ladylibrum7145]

Butterfly on extreme left with wings up, and butterfly with wings open are both males. Thanks for the information!,

[@kimworthing1240]

Absolutely 💯 beautiful I think 1x boy an 2 x female butterfly from downunder 🇦🇺✝️❤️

[@standoughope]

Does the female have a scent gland somewhere else? Do the males use the gland (I'm assuming yes, obviously) to get well... what scent exactly?

[@Chronix74]

Cool video guys, Thanks!

[@PumpkinMelon]

That was beautiful

[@hawkforce3109]

Fantastic time lapse footage!

[@JeffersonLab]

Thanks, but that's not time lapse. Other than the cross dissolve towards the end of the sequence, what you're seeing is shown in real time.

[@thanroshi8514]

Amazing!

[@alihassanhassan4382]

Amazingly incredible

[@hyndarlinnn9285]

Cool

[@browny3212]

Interesting

[@albathomas246]

Just beautiful birth, thank you for this wonderful video

[@chiffonbeasley1390]

on the left is two boys on of the boys had there wings open and on the right there was the girls

[@user-vx7qr8yp6r]

It's a boy! Save the monarchs!

[@ilprediletto]

WOW!!! Nature's always amazing...

[@raelenegonzalez1372]

ilprediletto God is amazingly!!

[@nitebylite8266]

2:02 Creepy :P

[@albathomas246]

Thank you, just amazing video

[@kebab1222]

Hmm, I heard a cat

[@eaglewings7372]

Hey I have question ! When i was in elementary school my brother found a monarch butterfly on the ground. It wings were intact but look crumpled like a sheet of paper that has been crushed and then straightened out again. Anyway he took it home and we fed it diluted honey. It survived like that for about two weeks before dying. I never understood why it wings were crumpled up. Did something go wrong when it came out of it's cocoon?

[@JeffersonLab]

Possibly. If they fall from their chrysalis before their wings have fully 'inflated', it can cause problems.

[@portercarr7197]

Birth defect

[@morganath]

1 boy 3 girls?

[@lauraroberts9039]

two boys on left, two girls on right

[@annabel2100]

it's beautiful and desturbing

[@jaxonshrewsbury5993]

Make more videos it's been 4 months

[@JeffersonLab]

+Jaxon Shrewsbury We're in the middle of one now.

[@chibistk]

Your show was awesome!!!🎉😊

[@mridhulml9238]

Is this in real time? If not how much time does it actually take . I m asking cause I've got a butterfly emerging and its been hours and its still not fully out..i tried helping but i fear it'll make it weak?

[@JeffersonLab]

Other than the dissolve at the end, this is real time.

[@slenderman5750]

This is cool!

[@collinalbicocco3025]

🦋

[@bmohr7049]

Was that a time lapse video? How long was the process from when the butterfly broke through the chrysalis until it was “free”?

[@JeffersonLab]

Not time lapse. Other than the cross dissolve at the end, what you're seeing is in real time.

[@barbaramaurer5942]

Beautiful!

[@bestbrand1106]

Wonder full😍😍😍😍

[@lpssilverblue_studios3068]

Now he can live and make a garden beautiful

[@uusername7454]

How does it lose that big thing in it's back? 2:40 - 2:50

[@JeffersonLab]

+Dan The Dan The fluid in the abdomen is pumped into the wings.

[@Xintheclouds]

Awww Sylvie ❤️❤️

[@user-nc5xk5xq3b]

the male is the one with the open wings. Its harder to tell with the wings closed, but the rest look like females. Again his color looks more vibrant.

[@JeffersonLab]

One of the ones with close wings is also male.

[@amoxycycline9909]

Was the "hatched" butterfly eating/smelling something embedded in the Chrysalis (nutrients of some sort?) Or was the butterfly just holding on until it can acclimate to its environment and its body's new capabilities?

[@JeffersonLab]

+Amoxycycline No, there's no food there. It's just waiting until it's ready for its first flight.

[@katiekawaii]

Incredible. Can we see it start to flap its wings, or did that not get caught on camera?

[@JeffersonLab]

***** This particular butterfly wandered out of frame before it began any sort of wing flapping.

[@augustinmouchot7358]

+Jefferson Lab seeing this made me wonder what goes through its mind when it [realizes] it can fly. Its early life seems somewhat like a toddler being born into an empty house, crawling around eating the floor and walls of the room it was born in, morphing into a helicopter during a nap, then waking up in a very different body & using some type of heuristics to fly around, largely unassisted. Great footage; thanks for filming this event & sharing!

[@followingjesus2028]

The amazing wisdom of our Creator!! All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small, the Lord God made them all!

[@fjejjsjxgkosk]

Make more videos please

[@JeffersonLab]

+Pyro Technic We are! At a minimum, the next one will be early March.

[@fjejjsjxgkosk]

Yay!

[@sayville_silver]

I don't get how the one on the far left is a male when the veins of the wings are super thick just like the two females on the right.. I see the small oranges smudge on the left ones wing, but those veins are super thick.

[@JeffersonLab]

The smudge is what's important when their songs are closed. You don't see if the veins are thick or thin unless the wings are open.

[@AxialisPsychopathy]

WOW. Amazing! Anyway left side has 2 boys and the right side has 2 girls. Am I right?

[@JeffersonLab]

Mr. Hymn You are correct!

[@TheSwarm0]

more to the bottom left are boys and other 2 are girls and they are closer to the top right

[@Stevenpa00]

Fly fly fly

[@wesharetestimonies8221]

This is truly magnificent. And not normal in anyway

[@DeepMandal007]

love it

[@louisaperolio4086]

I saw one boy and two girl butterflies.

[@JeffersonLab]

There were four butterflies in the photo...

[@tyreseboucher6539]

from left to right, the butterflies are male, male, female, female.

[@bktee8182]

So crazy how nature works

[@tresiabiagi]

I volunteer ed at a farm and witness this. They don't waste anytime they strat procreation immediately it was fascinating to observed

[@neydialeman7474]

I see two male monarch butterflies and two female monarch butterflies on the flowers.

[@JeffersonLab]

Then your butterfly vision is 20/20!

[@jay_1001]

From left to right its boy boy girl girl

[@shreanandshrowtishome8133]

#stupendous❤️

[@joedizz1608]

ummm its 2 males and 2 females right??

[@JeffersonLab]

Right!

[@orchidlady23]

Make

[@edwingrauke9264]

1 male

[@JeffersonLab]

At least one in male. There are four butterflies in total...

[@dylanbatts6012]

the 3 are the males the ones the gril