Nearly all of our butterflies have emerged! We got 10 caterpillars, and they started becoming chrysalids on Sat March 8th. They were all chrysalids by the 9th. Yesterday, day 11 of that stage, 2 butterflies emerged. This morning when we got up, there were 5 butterflies, and now there are 8!! We're expectantly waiting one more (unfortunately, I think one of them won't make it). Check them out!
Leslie cut up a tangerine for them to drink
Forgive the flashback, but isn't it cool the way it lit up the interior of the chrysalid so that you can see the wings of the butterfly that has yet to emerge?! Directly beneath it is a butterfly that has just emerged; its wings are still partially furled up.
With our caterpillars, we bought this "Butterfly Bungalow" from Insect Lore, which is a mesh-sided tent so that we can get inside & interact with the butterflies. I'm really glad that we got it--it's been really neat to get inside & up close with the butterflies!
Elijah is inside with a butterfly on the side of the tent (and the tangerines on the bottom of the tent)
Rebekah REALLY likes getting in the tent & playing with the butterflies; I think she'd stay in the there all day if I'd let her!
This is the disk from the top of the cup, to which the caterpillars attached when they started pupating. The shells are the empty chrysalids from which the butterflies emerged, and the red fluid is called "meconium" (a word that should be familiar to moms who've had babies in the past decade). It's the excess fluid & tissue that the butterfly doesn't need, and is excreted when she emerges from the chrysalid.
