Our Painted Lady butterflies have emerged! Most fascinating of all, they laid eggs that we were able to transplant onto a  Hollyhock plant. If you missed our first post on observing our caterpillars as they went from tiny little beings to big and fat and moving into the chrysalis state, you may want to go back and read about that first.

Once our Painted Lady caterpillars went into the chrysalis state, we continued to make observations and predictions in our Observation Area.  Each child predicted how long it would take the butterflies to emerge.

The Creek Kids observed:   The chrysalids did sometimes vibrate and wiggle, but did not relocate. They did not grow. They did not change color. They pretty much stayed the same, until one day we came home and there was a single butterfly.

Soon after, we watched as another emerged. We felt so lucky to witness this. It’s usually hard to catch them popping out, as it’s normally quite fast. We surmised that this is nature’s way of protecting new butterflies from predators–they get out quickly and move right away.
They start to crawl towards the top of the cage, slowly unfurling their wings. They release meconium, the bright red birthing fluid. We noticed that they seemed to get more active after releasing the meconium. But then they rested. Being born is hard work.

Much later, they would come to eat the rotting fruit that we put in the bottom of their enclosure. They love bananas. They initially ignored oranges, strawberries and melon but then began to feed on those as well.  We gave them more bananas.

I had several comments on our caterpillar post expressing concern about the fact that we handled our caterpillars. Commercial companies that provide live caterpillars for breeding butterflies advise against this, my readers informed me. Our experience is a bit different. Years ago, my father started a butterfly farm and my family is still breeding and selling live butterflies today. My kids and I have seen the behind-the-scenes work and know that by the time the caterpillars have arrived at our door, they have been delicately handled as both eggs and very new caterpillars.

How We Carefully Handle Our Caterpillars

• We wash our hands.
• We wait until the caterpillars have grown to about 4cm before we pick them up.
• We only pick up one caterpillar, one time, simply for the sensory experience and to satisfy curiousity.
• We use an open palm or an outstretched finger and let the caterpillar move around however it wants.
• After a minute or two, back they go into their food containers with their friends, unharmed.
• We wash our hands again.

We also handle our butterflies, once they have hatched, unfurled their wings and appear to be moving about, rested from the birthing process. Butterflies in captivity can be handled, as long as it is delicately.

If you put a few drops of water on your fingers, the butterfly may stay awhile, drinking.

Hollyhock (left, rear) and Thistle (right and left, front) Plants

After a few days out of the chrysalids, the butterflies began mating. We  encouraged them to lay eggs in captivity before releasing them.  Painted lady butterflies love thistle and hollyhock plants.

We hung a few stems of thistle from the top of the butterfly cage, secured with safety pins, as our whole thistle plants were too large to fit. The butterflies laid their little bluish-green eggs, however most of the eggs wound up on the rotting bananas and cantaloupe. Whether the butterflies laid eggs on their food or the eggs fell from the hanging, quickly drying, thistle, we aren’t sure.

Butterflies feeding on rotten bananas. See the little blue-green butterfly eggs all over the bananas?

We carefully moved the eggs into a larger butterfly enclosure that we made, a wonderful idea we got from Amy at Mamascout. Here’s a peek at that. I’ll post about this phase of the project after the eggs (hopefully) hatch.

Our new, larger butterfly enclosure where the Painted Lady eggs now reside, in the company of a Hollyhock plant.

When our butterflies were 5 and 6 days out of their chrysalids, we released them.  Here’s what you learn when you are the daughter of a Butterfly Farmer:  Painted Lady butterflies, like most butterfly species, need it to be 70 degrees Fahrenheit or higher in order to fly, otherwise they will fall to the ground and are easy prey for birds. Releasing them where there are flowers may encourage them to stay close, at least for a few minutes. Or they may just decide to take off. You can do that if you’re a butterfly.

Releasing our butterflies.

Here’s another thing you learn when your father turns a part of the house you grew up in into a butterfly farm:  Genetic mutations are, unfortunately, common. A missing or reversed wing, a caterpillar that can’t fully emerge from it’s chrysalis. For those that do emerge, but are unable to fly well or properly, we place them in the flowering bushes and plants upon release. This will give them a chance to lay eggs, eat or at least have a bit of a nice life outdoors.  Out in the open, they would be easy prey for birds and other predators.

This butterfly's right wing didn't properly unfurl when it emerged from its' chrysalis. Its' ability to fly is compromised so we placed it in a flowering bush where it can hide easily from predators.

We said goodbye to our butterflies and now we wait to see if their little eggs will hatch.  Stay tuned!

To read more about our butterflies in the caterpillar stage, click here.
To read about our trip to the exotic butterfly exhibit, click here.
For more ideas about raising butterflies, see Plain Vanilla Mom’s Butterfly Link-Up. 

Linking up with these great Linky Parties.

We are raising caterpillars into butterflies.  Painted Ladies, to be exact. We’ve done this before, but this time we are really paying attention, every single day, to these fantastic creatures and the amazing transformation they are making. In just 9 days, they arrived at our house, grew tremendously and went into the chrysalis state. Here’s a closer look at that process.

Day 1: The caterpillars arrived about 10 days from hatching from the egg stage. They measured 1.5 to 2 cm.

Day 1 (10 days old)

We set up a caterpillar observation area where we could make daily observations and learn more about the caterpillars. The area contains the cups the caterpillars arrived in (they basically live with their food, a human-made concoction that looks a little like cookie dough).  The Observation Area also contains a clipboard with paper and pen for recording observations, some reference books about caterpillars and butterflies, a magnifying glass, a ruler, and these great scientific method cards.

Day 4 (13 days old): The caterpillars have grown! They measure 2.5 cm now. They grow every day. There is less food in the container and something resembling spider web silk has appeared.

Around Day 4, we notice little, black, fuzzy parts of the caterpillars seem to be falling off. We consult with the breeder and she tells us that this is sort of like a snake shedding it’s skin. The kids note that the food is getting more crumbly.

Day 5 (14 days old): The caterpillars measure 3-4 cm! Many have moved to the top of the container, where they will soon hang in chrysalis form. They are bigger, fatter, longer than yesterday! They are moving slower.

On Day 5, we decide the caterpillars are not as fragile anymore so we gently hold one. This is also the day we discover that what we thought were crumbly bits of food, are actually pieces of caterpillar poop! It’s the same color as the food. Yuk!

Day 7 (16 days old): Some of the caterpillars in the "J" shape, which means they are ready to start forming their chrysalids.

On Day 7, we observe there are some red dots in the food. We wonder if this is mold. After lunch, we look at the caterpillars again. One has formed into a chrysalis! Just that morning he was a caterpillar hanging upside down from the coffee filter at the top.

By Day 8 (17 days old), each of the 5 containers has some chrysalids and some caterpillars.  But by Day 9 (18 days old), all are in the the chrysalis state. We make hypotheses on how long it will take them to hatch as butterflies.  Our guesses range from one week to one month.

Day 9 (18 days old): All of the caterpillars have entered the chrysalis state. All but one are attached to the coffee filters on the lid. One is in the food. We carefully lift him out with tweezers and transfer all the chrysalids to the butterfly house to await the next stage: hatching butterflies!

On Day 9 (18 days old), we measure the chrysalids.  They are all about 2 cm. Some of them are shaking and moving at different times. We pin the coffee filters containing the chrysalids to the sides of our mesh butterfly house. The one chrysalis not attached to the coffee filter is placed on the bottom of the mesh house.

Chrysalids in the mesh butterfly house.

And now we wait. We check. We wonder. We ask questions. “Why are they called BUTTER flies?”, The Queen Bee, age 6, ponders.  We look it up in Do Butterflies Bite?: Fascinating Answers to Questions About Butterflies and Moths . This is a great resource and it has answered many of the kids’ questions about the caterpillars so far. Incidentally, there are a few theories, but they might be called BUTTER flies because of the cream-colored and light yellow butterflies common across Europe.

Our Observation Area with the mesh container.

Love Bug (age 3) and The Queen Bee build a small fort with a blanket and chairs. They announce that this is a chrysalis. They pretend to eat a lot, then enter their chrysalis. They practice hatching and fly around like butterflies. They put music on and show me their butterfly dance.

The Butterfly Dance.

While we are waiting, we are checking the chrysalids each day and reading some terrific books:
        

Stay tuned for the next chapter of The Very Hungry Caterpillars when they hatch into butterflies. We will care for them, study them and then release them.

We got our caterpillars from a family member but my facebook readers tell me that Insect Lore  is a reputable brand, in the U.S.  In Canada, Canadian Home Education sells them.  Do any of my Australian and British readers have a resource for live caterpillars? What about other parts of the world? Please share in the comments. 

Linking up in these terrific places.