OK, back to the Speckled Wood. It is unfortunate that the main emergence sequence is now on the previous page, so to avoid any discontinuity (and to save folk having to look back), a quick summary below. I should add that the emergence took just under 4 minutes in total:
I must be getting better at this rearing lark as, despite never having reared a Speckled Wood before, I only had to wait 5 hours for the butterfly to emerge from its pupa. This is much, much shorter than my 'norm' but I think it is largely due to the rapid rate of development as it remained in the pupal stage for just 10 days, helped no doubt by this warm weather. Because I like the pupa, a few shots below, hopefully demonstrating the quick development.
29 July, 13.50
29 July 18.57
30 July 7.46
30 July 9.59
Just prior to emergence:
I had been expecting a pupa that was largely brown but that was most definitely not the case. It is not a trick of the light - the pupa was a multitude of colours with a blue-ish tone being the primary one. Quite a surprise which left me wondering if they are all like this.
As the butterfly was drying its wings (which really didn't take long at all compared to some species I have reared), I experimented a little with different backgrounds:
However, it was not long before it surprised me by taking off and landing at the top of a high shrub, which required a ladder - but still no open-winged shot:
At least he's back where he belongs!