Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Growing Butterflies

Nana sent Jonas a butterfly kit for his birthday.  We ordered the caterpillars and they came in a "Live Animals" box.  They ate the food that was in their shipping cup for about 7 days and they got bigger and bigger.  It was fun to measure them each day.

Then they climbed up to the top, hung upside down and made a chrysalis.  We moved them from the little cup they were shipped in, to the butterfly habitat.  There they hung for about 7 days. 

 

All 5 of our caterpillars emerged from their coccoons!  Since they came out at different times over 2 or 3 days, we never got to see one emerge.  I missed one by minutes, but got to see its teeny-tiny wings before they plumped up.

Jonas liked to feed them (sugar water squirted on some flowers from the yard).  He kept wanting to pet them. 


We kept them in their habitat inside the house for a day or two, then we decided to release them.  This was Jonas' favorite part by far.













Super fun!  I'm sure we will do it again some time.

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