Formerly known as a Chrysalis

Thank you to our Aunt Sonia for such an awesome present. It has been about three weeks and my family and I have had such a joy watching and learning about the life of a butterfly.

When we originally received the present several weeks we were so worried about the caterpillars we thought were inside but we quickly learned that inside the box was a postcard to send away for our caterpillars. So online we went to Insect Lore, www.insectlore.com and ordered our caterpillars.

Four days later a simple brown box arrived in the mail. Screams of joy and excitement met the poor postman at the door with the realization of what was inside was.

 

Above on the left you can see what originally came out of the box. Two containers filled with ten tiny caterpillars and a one week supply of food. To the right you can see the amazing growth of those original tiny caterpillars within three days. We were shocked to say the least at the speed of their growth and the size of their bodies.

A few days later inside the cups the caterpillars started spending more and more time hanging from the lids in preparation for their transformation. Once they were ready the chrysalis started forming. I think the biggest surprise we had during the life cycle was just how hard the chrysalis were. I had to remove two of the chrysalis that fell from the lids and to my surprise it was like having two small pebbles in my hand. Not what I had expected.

The best part of the journey was by far the release of the Painted Ladies into the big wide world. We waited for a warm, sunny day and some simply flew for the sky while others decided to stay around for awhile and visit with us. I love this picture of one butterfly that rested in my son's hands for quite some time. 

We also had one butterfly (lovingly named Nemo) who didn't fully develop a lower wing and we really went round and round on whether or not we should release him. What if he couldn't fly? What if he was eaten right away? But in the end we let him go with the rest of his family. At first he just sat on the sidewalk, then we moved him into our herb garden and finally when we placed another butterfly in there with him the two flew for the sky. It took Nemo twice the wing flutters and twice the effort but we cheered as we watched him go beyond the roof line.