Queen Butterfly Chrysalis
Danaus gilippus (chrysalis)
The chrysalis hangs motionless from vegetation, often near milkweed patches or sheltered stems in warm open habitats. It does not feed, instead reorganizing the larval body into the adult butterfly inside a smooth green casing. Its main defenses are stillness, camouflage, a firm outer cuticle, and the toxic compounds carried over from the caterpillar stage. The small gold-like spots on the chrysalis are structural markings, not metal, and help break up its outline.
- Type
- Shell
- Conservation status
- LC
Growth chain
- ?
- Queen Butterfly Chrysalis
- ?