Metamorphosis of a Mourning Cloak

If you saw my earlier post to the Butterfly Day contest then you are aware that last Thursday and Friday we had a caterpillar invasion. Hundreds of these mourning cloak caterpillars were all over the house, garage, fences, everywhere!

The Mourning Cloak butterflies will tend to lay their eggs together in groups and the caterpillars will stay together as a group until it is time to venture off to make their chrysalis. I did notice they still tend to stay together as you see in the picture above. The caterpillar will mount it's back end to something and will hang down in a "J" for about a day.

Next they form their chrysalis

Now, here is the most fascinating thing I have learned so far.........
All these years on this earth and I never knew that their little heads fall off!!!!!!!

Makes one wonder where their brains go? Right?
So now we wait for them to turn into butterflies. Hopefully my nephew will come by and do some time lapse of the final metamorphosis!