Empty chrysalis = tiny miracle

An empty chrysalis is a tiny miracle, when you think about all it took to get there.

It needed a healthy adult butterfly to lay eggs on a specific native plant. There needed to be enough of this plant that remained unmowed and pesticide free. Thanks to the leaves, the caterpillar went through stages of tremendous growth while avoiding predators, disease, and human disturbances. Even if it made it to a chrysalis, many die in this stage, succumbing to parasitoid flies or wasps that slowly kill their host.

Only a few make it far enough to leave an empty chrysalis behind. This may seem awful, but it is part of a healthy ecosystem that most caterpillars do not reach adulthood. Unfortunately, healthy ecosystems that once existed are now fragmented, often replaced with alien plants that our insects cannot subsist on.

Something we can do as individuals is replace dead zone lawns and landscaping with native host and nectar plants. The more habitat, the more opportunity for insects to complete their life cycles. To many of us, insects are inherently valuable, but some people may need to be reminded that insects are critical to life on earth. They pollinate the food we eat, act as basis for entire food webs, recycle nutrients and more.

So when you find an empty chrysalis, count yourself lucky while you reflect on the interconnectedness of our world.