In an effort to help their chances of survival, our daughter's family helps raise caterpillars into butterflies, then releases them into the wild. Apparently only one in a hundred caterpillars in the wild actually survives long enough to become a butterfly, so every bit helps.
The local 'butterfly lady' had gone away on a vacation, and left all her caterpillars with our daughter. These were just some of the hundred or so she was caterpillar-sitting at the moment....
The local 'butterfly lady' had gone away on a vacation, and left all her caterpillars with our daughter. These were just some of the hundred or so she was caterpillar-sitting at the moment....
The caterpillars are kept several to one clear container, along with several milkweed leaves, which need to be refreshed daily. The bottoms on their boxes are lined with paper towels to catch all their excrement. It's amazing just how much the caterpillars poop!
When the caterpillars metamorphosis into a chrysalis, they first spin a web attachment to the top of their container, which they then hang from, and then they actually split and shed their skin to reveal the chrysalis INSIDE - they don't spin a cocoon around themselves. Then the chrysalises are carefully removed and hung along the bottom of a shelf for two weeks, where they can be watched.
Just before the butterfly is ready to emerge, the chrysalis looks black, because the casing has become transparent, and we can see the butterfly markings inside. This time we actually got to watch a butterfly emerge. it usually happens so fast that we miss it - one minute there's a chrysalis, the next the butterfly is out with wings expanded - so it was a special treat....
When the caterpillars metamorphosis into a chrysalis, they first spin a web attachment to the top of their container, which they then hang from, and then they actually split and shed their skin to reveal the chrysalis INSIDE - they don't spin a cocoon around themselves. Then the chrysalises are carefully removed and hung along the bottom of a shelf for two weeks, where they can be watched.
Just before the butterfly is ready to emerge, the chrysalis looks black, because the casing has become transparent, and we can see the butterfly markings inside. This time we actually got to watch a butterfly emerge. it usually happens so fast that we miss it - one minute there's a chrysalis, the next the butterfly is out with wings expanded - so it was a special treat....
This photo was taken about 30 seconds after it had emerged. The butterfly's wings were still tiny, and the abdomen was huge, and full of fluid, which it will pump into the wings to expand them. Then the butterfly will just stay hanging in place for two hours to let it's wings dry.
After two hours the butterfly was transferred into a mesh 'butterfly box', and taken outside to be released. Our granddaughter likes to dress up in her monarch butterfly costume for the release.
At this stage the butterflies will sit quietly on a finger to be transferred to a flower.
After two hours the butterfly was transferred into a mesh 'butterfly box', and taken outside to be released. Our granddaughter likes to dress up in her monarch butterfly costume for the release.
At this stage the butterflies will sit quietly on a finger to be transferred to a flower.
There wasn't much blooming in their butterfly garden, so we brought out my daughter's birthday bouquet.... and released the butterfly onto one of the flowers.....
Which made for a unique photography opportunity....
The next day there were two more butterflies to release, and we took them along to a park to pick fresh milkweed. There we released them onto the wildflowers, for more photos....
However, it was cold and starting to rain, and neither butterfly was interested in flying away, so we transferred them back into the mesh 'cage' and took them back home, to be released when it was better weather...
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