Monarch Butterfly

Photograph by Kenzie Reynen, Your Shot

I found a monarch chrysalis on a piece of bark while at work on a farm one day. Maybe I should not have brought the bark home, but I did, in anticipation of watching the monarch emerge. After a little over a week of life in a jar, the chrysalis changed colors, and the butterfly began to emerge. It was absolutely fascinating. This is the jar in which I watched it emerge, in which it first flapped its wings, and from which I freed it. What a beautiful creature.

(This photo was submitted to Your Shot.)

What Makes This a Photo of the Day? This picture is quite different than what I normally run, which is one of the reasons I chose it. I like the interaction happening between the photographer who cared for the chrysalis, eagerly awaiting its metamorphosis, and the butterfly now going free. —Alexa Keefe, Photo of the Day editor

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