Kids Home | About Us | Adults | Teens Search the Catalog | Your Library Card | Search the Web Kids | New Books, Movies & More | Evans Programs | McGraw Programs | Pictures The McGraw Monarchs Monarchs Materialize at McGraw and Migrate to Mexico - Last week the McGraw Branch was the temporary home of two Monarch Butterflies that were preparing to emerge from their cocoons (also called a chrysalis). Click on any picture to see a larger version. It takes two weeks for a butterfly to emerge from a chrysalis. Close up you can see that a chrysalis is a very bright green with a gold ring around the top. After the butterfly emerges from the chrysalis it hangs on the twig to dry it's wings. Here is a closer picture of the butterfly drying it's wings. Here you can see how big a Monarch Butterfly is compared to it's chrysalis. After the butterfly has dried it's wings it flaps them very fast for several hours to strengthen them. After the butterfly's wings are nice and strong it is released into the outside. From there it travels south to Mexico or Florida for the winter. But don't worry, they always come back in the spring.