Ready To Spread My Wings

Sorry if anyone is getting burned out with the Monarch development I'm posting, but promise this is the next to last one.

Once fully out of the chrysalis, the wings need to be filled with liquid and then dried to become hard enough to support flight.  The liquids came from the milkweed they devoured and stored in their abdomen.  It takes about an hour for the butterfly to fully extend the wings, but they are still "wet" and very fragile and any disturbance to the wing may cause damage and make the monarch flightless.  

After another half hour to an hour, they are dried and fully developed and ready to  begin exploring their new world.  Having lots of nectar plants nearby, such as in our waystation, helps get them started.  But after a couple hours to a couple days, they will have left, hopefully to mate and return and lay more eggs for us to "RESCUE, RAISE, and RELEASE".

Canon7D, Canon 180 macro, ISO 400, F5.6, 1/1000, Cropped horizontal to vertical