Oh my, oh my, a butterfly. Part One

This year for Nicholas' 3rd birthday we decided to have a Bug Bash to indulge my son's fascination with all things creepy crawly. (If you missed that entry, check it out here.) As a result, he received tons of really amazing bug related gifts. This one, from his Grandpa Fred and Grandma CC, had to be one of, if not, the coolest. It's a Live Butterfly Garden by Insect Lore. The box contains a mesh net for housing your chrysalides which then turn into butterflies. But let me back up for a second, your kit comes with the mesh garden (pictured below) and with a voucher that you redeem online for your 5 caterpillars (3 of which are guaranteed to become butterflies). When the weather warmed a little more, we decided to send away for our caterpillars. They arrived about a week later in the mail in the little yellow box below.

The butterfly garden, caterpillar box, dropper to feed our eventual butterflies, and butterfly book (also from Grandpa Fred and Grandma CC).

This is the container the 5 caterpillars arrive in. This is their home and in it is all the food they need for their journey from caterpillars to chrysalides. It is a very low mantenience science project in that you do absolutely nothing but watch them grow, attach themselves to the roof to a sort of tissue paper, and become chrysalides.

The perfect butterfly life-cycle book.

You Tube has spectacular caterpillar to butterfly time lapse videos.

We found a home out of direct sunlight and out of a curious child's reach, but also where we would remember to observe them everyday. See the cup up there?

In about a week's time they have seriously grown.

When they hang upside-down like little J's, you know they are about to transform into chrysalides.

The last one to change.

There we go, all 5 are now chrysalides.

Wonder.

Then comes the part that you need to actually do something, and that is, very carefully unscrew the top of the cup and remove the tissue with the attached chrysalides and pin them to the side of their garden.

And wait 7-10 days for them to make their metamorphosis.

And one morning you will wake up to this,

and this,

and this. Painted Lady Butterflies! All 5 of ours made it! Now, the idea is for you to observe them for a few days then let them go, and that's just what we did, but no. We sent them off in style, with a party, of course!

To be continued...

Read Part 2 here and Part 3 here.