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Monarchs in September
updated: Sep 11, 2010, 9:00 AM

By David Powdrell

So here's the deal...while working on my car today, my neighbor excitedly told me to come across the street to see something interesting. I took the bait.

Turns out she had a butterfly neonatal center going on at her chain link fence, chalk full of butterfly chrysalis' and newborn Monarch butterflies. I got as gitty as Huell Howser on a California Gold episode as I witnessed the birth of some beautiful Monarch butterflies. Cigars for everyone.

The little research I did told me that Monarch butterflies are typically born between mid-November and mid-December, not early September. All I can think of is that four consecutive months of coastal summer fog confused the little rascals into thinking we're in the dead of winter. I was wearing a hooded sweatshirt.

Pics of newborn Monarchs as well as some chrysalises follow.

Which begs the question: Do you know the difference between a cocoon and a chrysalis? I didn't. But Wikipedia does:

A cocoon is a covering made of silk that encloses a pupa, and a chrysalis is the pupa of a butterfly. The chrysalis is covered in a hard, chitnous shell.

Inside a cocoon, you will often find a pupa of a moth or other insect with an inner chitinous shell, but it is not called a chrysalis unless it is the pupa of a butterfly. The pupae of some insects have visible external body structures, such as wings and legs, as they develop, while others (such as moths) have a smooth outer shell that encloses the developing structures.

You might notice the lines of a butterfly wing inside one of the chrysalis'.

Even at the ripe old age of 55, I marvel at the magic of a caterpillar turning into a beautiful winged butterfly, particularly when they're months ahead of schedule.

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