04/25/2026
Monarchs have left their overwintering sites and have begun to repopulate their breeding range for the spring and summer months, which means we'll start to see more monarch eggs, caterpillars, pupa, and butterflies. Let's take a closer look at the pupa stage, or chrysalis stage, of a monarch's life cycle.
A monarch will spend about 10 to 14 days as a pupa (chrysalis). When a monarch first pupates, shedding its exoskeleton as the chrysalis is revealed, the pupa is very soft, but it'll end up hardening. The pupa will start out a light-green color, but as the days progress, it'll turn transparent, and you'll start to see the butterfly within, getting ready to emerge.
In the featured image, you can start to see the outline of the monarch butterfly through the pupal cuticle. We've pointed out a few areas of the monarch butterfly (abdomen, wings, thorax, head) as well as parts of the chrysalis itself (spiracles, silk pad, cremaster).
