Finally flying?

Today, I went in to go check on my butterfly's progress and found an empty chrysalis but no butterfly. Unfortunately, someone had taken out all of the butterflies that were in the greenhouse. I am really sad that I missed the most exciting part of the life cycle of my little Heraldo. Since I did not get to see this part of the process, I used reference materials to gather information on what happens in this final stage.
According to "The Butterfly Emerges" in the Life Cycle of Butterflies, it only takes about 30 seconds for the butterfly to escape little chrysalis. Since it has been crammed in such a small space, the wings of the butterfly are very wrinkled and crumpled. It takes about two or three hours of resting for the butterfly to force fluid in its wings in order to expand and harden them. Interestingly enough, the butterfly has a broken proboscis when it first emerges. The proboscis is how the butterfly feeds on nectar. During the resting period, the butterfly has to connect the proboscis through its interlocking spines.
The final step for the new butterfly is the expulsion of waste tissue left over from time it spent in a chrysalis. This is called meconium and although it is red, it is not blood.
In the end, the butterfly should be able to fly away and feed on sweet nectar from plants and fruits. It is a shame that I never got to see my butterfly fly away. Maybe he looks like this up in heaven....