Malformed wings, why?

[Dr Moth]

I've been keeping an eye on a small tortoishell pupa attached to a nettle leaf. The nettle leaf died and curled around it. The butterfly emerged yesterday afternoon, it took about an hour (is that usual?). It seemed to spend a very long time half way out, not moving at all. I resisted the urge to "help" as I understand the wings will not form properly if they are touched at this stage. However, the wings weren't at all right.

When I looked again this morning it was on the ground underneath the patch of nettles, twitching a bit but it clearly can't fly. The wings are small and sort of folded and almost appear to be upside-down, ie the underside is more colourful than the upper.

As I'm sure you've gathered, I'm very new to butterfly-watching and I'd really appreciate it if anyone could tell me whether this happens often and what might have caused it?

[GuyF]

Originally Posted by Dr Moth

I've been keeping an eye on a small tortoishell pupa attached to a nettle leaf. The nettle leaf died and curled around it. The butterfly emerged yesterday afternoon, it took about an hour (is that usual?). It seemed to spend a very long time half way out, not moving at all. I resisted the urge to "help" as I understand the wings will not form properly if they are touched at this stage. However, the wings weren't at all right.

When I looked again this morning it was on the ground underneath the patch of nettles, twitching a bit but it clearly can't fly. The wings are small and sort of folded and almost appear to be upside-down, ie the underside is more colourful than the upper.

As I'm sure you've gathered, I'm very new to butterfly-watching and I'd really appreciate it if anyone could tell me whether this happens often and what might have caused it?

As far as I know this happens quite often. The emergence is an extremely delicate stage in the life cycle and it is very easy for something to go wrong! After a while the wings 'harden', if the butterfly hasn't managed to fully inflate them in this time then unfortunately it may never be able to fly. There can also be problems if the insect doesn't manage to free itself from the pupa, or the wings are damaged by surrounding vegetation when they are being pumped up.
Luckily a lot do manage it successfully, but there must be many unsuccessful emergences that go unnoticed.
Guy

[Hedera]

Could it have been because the leaf had died and was too hard and dry for the creature to get out?

[Dr Moth]

Yes, I think it was probably the dead nettle leaf then.

What a precarious existence!