Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Marvel of nature

This morning, while accompanying Sophia up the hill for her matinal pee, I came upon this splendid empty chrysalis, which is so light that the breeze blew it onto the road.

It's amazing to think that a splendid butterfly or moth emerged recently from this exoskeleton, and has probably already got together with a mate of its species in order to start another life cycle.

Most human observers would be enraptured by a piece of handmade jewelry imitating this shell. (The term chrysalis comes from the Greek/Latin for "gold".) I find that the real chrysalis is infinitely more mysterious, beautiful and precious than any artifact.

2 comments:

  1. Looks like a cicada skin.

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  2. You're so right! Thanks for correcting me. I have butterflies in my brain! Click here to see the Wikipedia page on cicadas, which describes the moulting process with the help of excellent images.

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