We have butterflies!
We came home about lunchtime today and the butterflies had hatched. In fact, one was sitting on our couch! Some of the pictures show a chrysalis hanging from a branch. The branch has been sitting in our living room with a video camera all set up just waiting for something to happen.
The weather has been cool and damp for the last few days. Today was bright and sunny, so suddenly they were all ready to hatch. Fortunately, the butterfly on the couch was very cooperative and we had no problems taking him outside.
There were four more butterflies fluttering around in the container. Moved the container outside and took some time to watch them drying their wings and taking off on their first flights.
My daughter enjoyed feeding them some sugar water as they were drying their wings. Their tongues are amazingly long!
The small red spot on her hand is from the butterfly. When they emerge from the chrysalis, their abdomen is filled with a red fluid. The butterfly pumps that fluid through the veins in the wings to help the wings open. I'm not sure how or why some of it ended up on her hand. But after a washing it a couple of times, she realized it had stained.
There were a couple of butterflies that had fallen to the bottom of the container. I thought one was dead and wasn't too optimistic about the other one. They both turned out to be fine. It took them a bit of time to dry their wings, but that's all they needed.
These are painted lady butterflies. The inside of the wings looks very different from the outside of the wings. When the wings are open, you can see lots of orange. When they are partly open, you can still see the distinctive orange and black pattern. But when they are closed, the wings of the Painted Lady butterfly has more of a brown and beige pattern. It's hard to believe it's the same butterfly!
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Read more about raising Painted Lady Butterflies.
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You can order some butterfly larvae for your home and watch them grow into caterpillars. Then comes metamorphosis and butterflies. The 2-foot tall, newly redesigned Butterfly Pavilion "pops-up" easily. Its see-through mesh and zippered entry allows easy access for care and feeding. Includes Pavilion habitat, free mail in certificate for 10 Painted Lady butterfly larvae with special food and complete instructions. Get your butterfly pavilion now! |
Comments (12)
Thank you so much for posting this information and pictures. This goes perfect with the Butterfly lesson I am teaching my students right now. The pictures are great!!!
Thanks again.
Posted by Louann Roberson | May 10, 2007 12:41 PM
Posted on May 10, 2007 12:41
which company did you use? Are you in Canada?
Posted by Dana | March 13, 2008 10:45 AM
Posted on March 13, 2008 10:45
Yes we are in Canada.
I ordered through http://www.boreal.com
Posted by Christine
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March 13, 2008 11:32 AM
Posted on March 13, 2008 11:32
thankz im doing a presentaition on butterflys at the moment
thz karley
Posted by karley | May 7, 2008 10:41 PM
Posted on May 7, 2008 22:41
That is a wonderful idea! Thanks for posting the website. It seems that as a child everytime i touched a butterfly they would die or at least fake their death. Do you know why that is? I know that their life span is surprisingly a few weeks. Were they ok after you guys touched them?
Posted by deltavia | May 8, 2008 6:27 AM
Posted on May 8, 2008 06:27
We were very careful not to touch their wings.
The butterflies would climb on to our fingers or land on us while we were feeding them. We stayed with them until they were all happily flying around the wildflower meadow where we released them.
Some butterflies do have short life spans while others live for much longer. The Monarch Butterfly actually migrates to Mexico for the winter!
Posted by Christine
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May 8, 2008 10:01 AM
Posted on May 8, 2008 10:01
I am in utah and wondered how i get started and where i go to get the caterpillars. I am also interested in getting tadpoles also and how to go about that. I would love some help find that out.
Posted by Kathleen | May 8, 2008 1:00 PM
Posted on May 8, 2008 13:00
I did not know that butterflies have long toungues.I think that you did something great and thanks for the idea.
Posted by hemanya gupta | May 11, 2008 2:49 AM
Posted on May 11, 2008 02:49
I wish I would have started the butterflies earlier. Is there anyway to still do this? Its May and I'm in Florida. Is there a place to order the catepillars to do this with my daughter?
Terri Hinks - Independant Demonstrator
www.Uppercaseliving.com 215280 token Hinks at customer corner
Posted by Terri Hinks | May 12, 2008 6:46 AM
Posted on May 12, 2008 06:46
Here's a company you can order Painted Lady butterflies from.
http://tinyurl.com/4dtzxx
Tadpoles are a bit more tricky. You need to figure out what is native in your area.
Where I live, tree frogs are native, but bullfrogs (non-native) have recently been taking over the breeding ponds and even eating the native tadpoles. Check with your garden centers. They may have a source of local tadpoles for gardens with ponds.
Posted by Christine
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May 12, 2008 7:27 AM
Posted on May 12, 2008 07:27
Hi, im doing a butterfly metamorphosis project with my studentd, i live in Canada, is there a good site where i can go to buy live larvae with beginner's kit???
Posted by mana | March 26, 2009 3:40 PM
Posted on March 26, 2009 15:40
For Canadian orders, try Boreal ( http://boreal.com/ )
Have fun with your butterflies!
Posted by Christine
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April 4, 2009 10:21 AM
Posted on April 4, 2009 10:21